Vale: The Village Hidden in Dust
by AchievementHunter27
Summary: Vale has recently become a major ninja village in the Elemental Nations. Follow Blake, Yang, and Pyrrha as they begin their careers as shinobi, trying to make their village prosperous, and dealing with the world's villains. Eventual Bumblebee and WhiteRose. Many Naruto cameos, but focuses on RWBY characters. Rated T for now, but may be M later.
1. Chapter 1

The last 50 years in the ninja world have been chaotic to say the least. What was the start of this chaos? The sudden appearance of four new ninja villages. The villages Vale, Mistral, Atlas, and Vacuo garnered much attention for the incredible skill of the shinobi residing there.

With tensions already high between the five major ninja villages, this sudden new threat just added on to the hostility of the land. Soon the Second Shinobi World War was upon the ninja nations.

While the main powers focus was mainly on one another, the lesser villages did not remain unscathed. Smaller ninja villages such as Rain and Grass were already allied with the larger villages, allowing for more security. Unfortunately for the four new villages there were no such allies to be found. The only protection that could be found was with each other. As hostile forces approached the newly claimed lands they were met with such a strong alliance they could barely set foot into them.

This alliance between Vale, Mistral, Atlas, and Vacuo had been named The Alliance of Remnant. Remnant being the bountiful land these villages presided over, it would later be divided among the four powers.

Surviving the war with relatively small losses, while all the other nations were injured greatly, was a perfect opportunity for the Remnant Alliance to gain a better position in the world. Being one of the few sources where competent shinobi could be hired, brought the Alliance quite a bit of wealth. Another special attribute of the alliance was that they were particularly adept at handling the Grimm.

Grimm are monsters who have always infested the elemental nations causing pain and havoc wherever they go. Ninja have fought Grimm even longer than they have fought each other. Having a new force so successful in combating the beasts, was a God send in the eyes of countless occupants in the land. This brought a large influx to the Remnant Alliance population.

Another key factor in the shinobi's success was their base element. They didn't have one. All the major villages are known particularly for bringing specific types of elemental users into the world, such as how Konoha is known for great fire specialists and Iwa great earth specialists. Much to their advantage, the villages of Remnant weren't limited to a single element. Since their creation all of the village's shinobi varied greatly. This allowed great shinobi of all types to come from the Remnant villages.

Their geographical location was an advantage in itself as well. All the villages were in areas of fertile land and several large rivers. Having large farmland and easy modes of trade/transportation are key for any civilization.

The final and perhaps most prominent reason for Remnants success is the Faunus. Sadly, the Faunus were generally looked down upon in most areas of the Elemental Nations, especially in Iwa. While areas like Konoha and Kumo weren't known for their distaste of Faunus, they were still treated as second class citizens. The villages of Remnant were a haven for all Faunus, especially considering the villages were cofounded by Faunus. Still today many of the village's clans are Faunus.

These advantages carried Remnant far and allowed them to enter the Third Shinobi War a true force to be reckoned with. They didn't pick a side, choosing to protect their lands once more, but they did attack other nations when opportunities presented themselves. As the third great war ended and the major powers were once more licking their wounds, Remnant continued to grow.

It came to the point to where all villages of Remnant were on par with the smaller ninja villages and an alliance wasn't necessarily needed. While the bonds between the villages are strong, the last 20 years they have been divided and finding success for themselves. Which leads us to Vale.

Vale was the pinnacle of the Remnant Alliance in its prime and its notoriety has only increased since then. With such skilled shinobi, with high standards even compared to the other Remnant villages, Vale slowly became recognized as a major hidden village. For the past 8 years Vale has secured its high ranking in the world.

This leads us to the beginning of our story, which surprise surprise, begins in Vale. Vale: The Village Hidden in Dust.

**(Vale Ninja Academy)**

The classroom was silent as Professor Port entered the room. The man was twirling his mustache with one hand as he stepped in front of his class, observing the many young faces looking back at him.

This was graduation day and he was looking at this year's graduating class. It was up to Port to announce who had made the cut, but first an inspiring speech was in order.

"I have had the pleasure to work with you for five years now." Port began. "It both pleases and saddens me too see you go."

The students were quiet, almost uneasy to see their usually jovial teacher speaking so seriously. "The world you are about to jump into is cold and unforgiving. It will show no mercy and kindness will be rare, but that is the life of a ninja, and I am proud to say that in this class are some of the most promising shinobi I have seen in a long time."

The class perked up at that, many students wearing confident smiles. Port nodded and continued "It's time to announce Team Tensai."

If it was possible the class had become even more silent than before. Team Tensai was only awarded to the top three students of the year. These shinobi were expected to be future leaders of Vale, and were given much more responsibility upon becoming a genin team. The largest difference between Tensai and a regular genin team was that they had no jounin teacher. Of course they had mentors keeping tabs on them and for certain missions Chunin or even Jounin would accompany them. Another fact, probably the main reason students hope to be part of Team Tensai, is that they are never given D Rank missions. Instead they focus more on actual training and missions taking place outside the village.

The students felt the anxiousness come over the room as they all sat on the edge of their seats, waiting for the results. There were a lot of promising candidates this year, considering several of the village's clans had their future leaders in that year.

"The first member of Tensai is," Port couldn't help but pause for dramatic effect "Pyrrha Nikos." The class clapped as the redhead stood up with a polite smile. Pyrrha was tall with a slender build, her long crimson hair was tied behind her in a ponytail. The red and gold armor she wore allowed for mobility and still retained a good deal of defense. Pyrrha being the next heir of the powerful Nikos clan was heavily burdened by expectations, but she met them with a strong yet caring disposition.

Pyrrha proudly walked to the front of the classroom next to Port as the clapping died down. "Congratulations miss Nikos. The next member of Tensai will be," Ah yes Port truly loved seeing the students squirm in their seats._ 'Is that weird of me?'_ The teacher thought _'Nah I'm a ninja, which hardly compares to this'._

"Blake Belladonna." The class turned their attention and applause to the black haired faunus sitting in the back. Her black garb left her toned midriff and arms exposed, showing her athletic physique. Her most prominent features were no doubt her captivating amber eyes and the pair of black feline ears sitting atop her head. Being a Belladonna, the next clan head, she was expected to become a fuinjutsu master. Blake stood stoic as ever, but had a small smirk adorning her face.

Port welcomed Blake to the front of his class as he did Pyrrha. "And the final member," Port really did live for this "Yang Xiao Long."

Unlike the other two, a loud "Wooh!" was heard in the classroom as a blonde blur arrived besides the rest of team Tensai. Yang has the body of a model, but if one looked closely they'd be able to see the clearly defined muscles. The blonde mane that cascaded down her back was the girls pride and joy matching well with her lilac eyes. Her outfit might be called risque by some, but was completely reasonable for a shinobi. The tight yellow shirt covered by an open tan jacket allowed for great maneuverability, just the same as her black shorts. Like the other two members of Tensai, Yang was a clan head. Being a member of the boisterous Long clan, it is no surprise how outgoing her personality is. Yang stood straight with a giant grin and a fire burning in her eyes.

Port nodded proudly to the group. "Congratulations, being named Tensai is something any ninja would be proud of." Even Blake grew a smile showing teeth at that praise. "Now the Donkage would like to see you there personally."

The girls bowed to their now former teacher and promptly left the room. They had barely made it down the hall when Yang decided that a group hug was in order. While the other two were just as excited, they couldn't help but be surprised that the girl they just met is nearly stopping them from being able to breathe.

"Yang, I'm just as happy as you are, but I'd like to keep my ribs intact." Blake pleaded tapped to Yang's side.

"That would be preferable." Pyrrha added from the other side of Yang.

Yang let go and chuckled while rubbing her head bashfully. "My bad."

Pyrrha smiled and shook her head "It's still hard to believe we made it."

"Was there any doubt?" Yang said with her usual confidence.

"Tons," Blake concluded "the exams this year were more challenging, we had to compete with other future clan heads, and there is also-"

"Shhh, Blakey." Yang stopped the faunus with a finger to her lips. "The Donkage awaits!"

"Blakey? Where did that come fro-" Blake would have finished asking if Yang hadn't grabbed the two girls and started running to the Donkage's office.

As the girls entered the Donkage's office they were met with the back of a chair, holding the Donkage himself. The chair behind the desk was facing an open window, giving a wonderful view of the prosperous Vale village.

A second after they entered the chair turned around, revealing a middle aged man with slightly long gray hair. This is the Nindaime Donkage, Ozpin. His story is the perfect example of achieving something great. Being an orphan Ozpin saw no other calling than that of a shinobi, and due to his incredible prowess in the Third Shinobi War earned the title Donkage. A title he had held for 12 years, since the Shodaime Donkage died of a stroke.

The Donkage regarded them with a small smile, his brown eyes analyzing them behind his green spectacles. Ozpin smiled and removed his Kage hat. "Do you know why you three were chosen as Tensai?"

The three girls were silent as they felt their Kage's warm yet calculating gaze. Ozpin chuckled and continued "I didn't think so." At this point he stood up and turned his gaze out the window. "By being Tensai you are a symbol. The three of you demonstrate the elite of our village. While you are still genin, I can say with confidence that together you can accomplish amazing things."

Ozpin turned around to face them once more and smiled at the trio. "Your silence is surprising Miss Long."

"It's a blessing." Blake couldn't help muttering before being able to stop herself.

"Hey!" Yang challenged back.

Ozpin smiled at the antics of the young ninja. "Why don't you three to take the day to better acquaint yourselves with one another. I know with clan business and the expectations of the academy, you haven't had much time to socialize outside of your usual circles."

The girls couldn't argue with his reasoning. Attending the academy along with clan duties didn't leave much personal time, much to a certain blonde's dismay. The girls only knew each other by name because of a few clan meetings the heirs were allowed to sit in on.

"Come by the administration desk tomorrow and you'll be assigned your first mission." Ozpin advised the Tensai.

With a unified "Hai" the girls left his office and began wandering the streets of Vale.

"Perhaps we should stop at one of the training grounds?" Pyrrha offered.

The other two girls were about to agree, however Yang's stomach announced that it had other plans. Blake chuckled at the blonde's groaning stomach and made a counter offer "There's a good BBQ place around the corner."

"Sweet!" Yang agreed and the group followed Blake's lead. A moment later they were inside a nice family run restaurant, seated at a table near a window. Yang sat next to Blake while Pyrrha was on the other side of the small table.

After placing their orders, Pyrrha observed "I didn't take you for one who enjoys barbeque Blake."

The faunus shrugged "I have it occasionally and assumed you two would like it."

Yang smiled "Thanks for the thought! I haven't had ribs in so long my mouth is starting to water."

That made Blake chuckle and ask "Yang? Don't you have a sister?"

The blonde nodded, "Yep little Ruby is two years below us. Honestly, I almost feel bad graduating."

"Why's that?" Pyrrha asked confused.

"Well you guys know how stressing all the clan crap can be sometimes." Yang answered and the two other girls nodded, understanding better than most would. "Well now that I have to put my main focus on missions, Ruby is going to get saddled with a lot of the clan stuff."

The other two girls were surprised to see the downcast look on the usually radiant girl, but Blake was quick to turn it around "Well it's a good thing she has a great older sister to help."

Yang met the faunus' smile with one of her own and Pyrrha interjected, "I suppose we should share our skills."

Blake nodded "Seems sensible, I'll go first. I'm primarily a ninjutsu specialist, having a primary affinity for wind and a secondary for water. I know a few basic genjutsu, however I haven't ever been really interested in the art. My taijutsu is above average, but I rely on my sword for any close quarters confrontation. You guys know my clan is popular for our fuinjutsu, and I've been studying that for quite some time. Of course being a faunus I've got some pretty advanced senses."

"So a ninjutsu specialist huh?" Yang thought aloud "How many jutsu do you know?"

"Six" Blake said casually, clearly at a bad time considering Yang spat out all the water she had been drinking.

"Six!" Pyrrha said shocked, "How?"

Blake smirked and added "My clan has a jutsu that can," Blake paused to search for the word "boost one's ability to master a jutsu. Since we're teammates now consider yourselves in on the secret."

Yang smiled while cleaning up the puddle she made "You do realize the second we're done here you're gonna have to show us those jutsu of yours."

Blake pretended to be annoyed, but inwardly she was pleased at the chance to show off.

"Alright, my turn!" Yang shouted more than a little excited. "Taijutsu is my thing! By using chakra to enhance my strikes I can literally make craters." The two girls visibly cringed imagining the blonde's destructive power. "My main affinity is lightning and my second is fire, but I've only been able to master one lightning jutsu. There is something really awesome I can do with my chakra infused gauntlets though. Aside from being able to detect and break genjutsu I can't really do much with it."

The two looked at Pyrrah and she began "Well I'm pretty much in the middle of you too. I'm proficient in both tai and nin, but nowhere near the level you two are at. My main affinity is earth and secondary fire like Yang. I haven't had any real practice in genjutsu. In combat I usually use a spear I'm quite adept with, and I have three jutsu in my arsenal."

Blake was nodding at Pyrrha's description of her abilities, then turned to her left and noticed Yang's face had taken a crestfallen appearance.

"Are you alright Yang?" Blake asked, concern evident in her voice.

Yang nodded and rose her head attempting a smile. "Yeah," Yang began "it's just hearing you guys describe your ninjutsu prowess makes me feel like a bit of a burden with how little I have."

Both girls were shocked to see the usually so confident blonde suddenly doubt herself. "We're just genin Yang," Pyrrha started "we're not really expected to know any significant jutsu aside from the henge, clone, and kawarimi."

"With that drive of yours I'm sure you'll have more jutsu than Pyrrha and I eventually." Blake said with a smile, she then bumped Yang with her shoulder adding "Besides I assumed you would enjoy being our muscle."

With a renewed smile Yang boasted "You've got a point there Blakey!" She continued ignoring Blake's small glare at the new nickname "Someone's gotta protect you two."

Pyrrha smiled and shook her head at her teammates antics "Oh!" The redhead exclaimed suddenly "I nearly forgot, my clan has the biggest jutsu library in the village, well aside from the Donkage's collection of course. You two are more than welcome to it!"

"Great," Blake responded grateful, thinking of the potential new abilities "my clan's collection doesn't have a lot of wind techniques."

"Some would say this this situation is just _purrfect_." Yang said with a proud smile at her joke. The blonde didn't seem to deterred at her teammates reactions, Pyrrha groaning quite loudly and Blake rubbing her temples in frustration.

Much to the blonde's disappointment, and her teammates elation, Yang was cut off from making any further puns by the waiter's arrival with the girl's food in hand. Fifteen minutes of eating and conversation regarding clans later the Tensai were stuffed and paying the bill. A short argument was started between the faunus and redhead when both offered to pay the bill. A moment later Blake conceded, while Yang just sat happy to be getting a free meal.

The three than left the restaurant with Yang proclaiming "To the training grounds!"

**(Training Ground 17)**

Despite Yang's excitement, the group had walked at a leisurely pace letting their just eaten food digest. The girls quickly decided on Ground 17, considering it had a stream cutting through it and was currently unoccupied.

"Alright Blakey! You're up first!" Obviously the blonde said.

Blake rolled her eyes and walked towards the small stream saying over her shoulder "Just for that I'm saving my secret for last."

Yang crossed her arms and grumbled at the girl's response and Pyrrha withheld a few chuckles at the blonde's behavior. "I suppose we'll start with water." Blake said while taking up a concentrated stance. After a deep breath and a few quick hand seals she yelled "Water Release: Gunshot!" As Blake finished a large ball of water shot from her mouth crashing straight through a rather large tree branch.

"Damn!" Yang yelled impressed at the simple yet destructive move.

Pyrrha nodded in agreement "It does seem like it would leave quite a mark."

"I can control the power behind it," Blake exclaimed "and if there's a significant enough water source nearby I can shoot several rapidly."

"And if there isn't a water source nearby?" Pyrrha inquired.

"Just one at a time and it would take longer for me to prepare." Blake answered.

Yang shrugged "Still pretty damn useful, now next one!"

With a smile Blake settled back into the same stance regaining her focus. Than a few swift hand signs and a yell "Water Release: Water Whip!" Blake had a long strand of water shoot from her hands and wrap around Yang's ankle. Yang didn't have time to react as Blake jerked the rope of water effectively pulling the blonde off her feet.

Yang moaned on the ground and slowly "While that is awesome, a warning would have been nice."

Blake crossed her arms with a grin "Oh, I just thought the mighty Yang Xiao Long would be ready for anything."

Yang eagerly returned the grin with one Blake would describe as chaotic, forcing the faunus to falter. "Blake I enjoyed knowing you." Pyrrha yelled from the side.

"Don't worry I'm not planning anything" Yang assured the group "yet."

The blonde just let that hang in the air as Blake gulped wondering what the implications for her actions could be. Shaking that off the faunus said "Let's continue."

"Good idea," Pyrrha agreed now closer deciding it was safe once more.

Blake moved into a different stance before turning her head to Yang asking "Do you have any shuriken with you?" As the team's bruiser nodded Blake continued "Stand next to me and throw them into the air."

Yang shared a confused look with Pyrrha before just shrugging and following Blake's orders. Now next to the faunus, Yang reached into her weapons pouch removing several of the ninja armaments. With a nod from Blake, Yang threw half a dozen shuriken in the air. Wasting no time Blake flew through hand seals and yelled "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!" forcing a large gust of wind to carry the weapons and send them towards a tree.

Yang and Pyrrha watched with wide eyes as the blades sunk into the tree with a large audible thud. Blake didn't stop there, using similar hand signs shouting "Wind Release: Air Bullet!" A compact ball of air burst from Blake's mouth, ripping a large branch free from the now greatly damaged tree.

"Okay now you're just showing off." Yang said crossing her arms with a smirk. Pyrrha considered responding that showing off is what Yang is best at, but the redhead remembered the earlier confrontation and decided that she didn't want to be another target of the blonde's. "So what's next?" Yang asked, ready to see what else her teammate could do.

"Well I have one more wind technique, but it's basically a buff to my katana." Blake explained as she took a storage scroll out of her back pocket. Blake unrolled the scroll and sent a small pulse of her chakra through the material, bringing her sword out. "This" Blake explained holding out her sleek black katana "is Gambol Shroud."

"Pretty" Yang drooled, being from a clan of weapon creators gave her a certain fondness for the instruments.

"That is quite an impressive blade." Pyrrha agreed, knowing quite a bit about weapons herself.

Blake set the blade down in front of her than made several hand signs saying "Wind Release: Vacuum Sword!" As she finished her chant the black blade grew a white glow around it.

"Well that's…. something?" Yang answered not really understanding what the purpose of the jutsu is. Blake noticed that Pyrrha was confused as well and decided that a demonstration would serve better than an explanation.

The girls watched as Blake moved to the already severely damaged tree, glowing katana in hand, stopping a foot out of the blade's striking distance. Blake rose her katana and swung in front of the tree, what shocked the other Tensai was that even though the physical blade wasn't making contact with the tree, large gashes were being inflicted upon the bark.

"I thought you said you didn't know genjutsu?" Pyrrha asked, convinced she was witnessing some sort of illusion.

Blake shook her head "I don't, all I'm doing is manipulating wind chakra. Basically I'm covering my blade in it, allowing the weapon to have a longer reach and a more deadly cut."

"That…. is…. amazing!" Yang exclaimed as Pyrrha nodded her head agreeing with the blonde.

Blake blushed at the praise "Thanks, it takes a lot of control over the element, it tires me out quickly. Really I've only just scratched the surface, some advanced users are even able to block projectiles with this technique."

"So," Yang began the long wait getting to her "is it time for your secret?"

Blake grinned "I suppose." With that the faunus stood up straight and made a very familiar hand sign "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" A burst of smoke temporarily obscured the girl's view of the faunus, however it faded a moment later. The surprise was that instead of there being one Blake, the girls saw two.

Yang seemed almost let down at the sight "What, clones? How can that be your secret?"

"I'm afraid I don't understand either," Pyrrha agreed "we all learned how to make clone illusions our third year at the academy."

"Yes, we learned to make basic clones" Blake began "but these are not basic clones."

Pyrrha inquired "How are they different?" As Pyrrha finished that question, the clone of Blake rushed her. Acting on instinct Pyrrha moved into a defensive stance, feeling a bit silly considering her attacker was just an illusion, but that passed as she actually felt the clone hit her arm.

Pyrrha looked back up to see two smiling Blakes and a dumbfounded blonde "They're… solid?"

Blake nodded at Pyrrha's assumption "Completely, although a good hit will usually take one out. My clan was able to _obtain _this from Konoha during the last war."

"Solid clones incredible." Pyrrha mumbled still somewhat shocked at the idea.

"That's not even their most useful trait." Blake admitted "You see when someone makes one of these, they are dividing their chakra. For instance," Blake gestured at her clone "this clone has half the reserves I do, while I still have the other have. So if I had made two clones, we would each have a third of my usual chakra. What makes this so important is that shadow clones can use jutsu."

To display this, Blake's clone made a water whip for the others to witness. "This brings strategy to a whole new level." Yang remarked.

"Perhaps the most useful trait is the learning possibility," Blake stated "Pyrrha whisper something to my clone and make sure I don't hear it."

Pyrrha did as her teammate asked and once she was done, the clone disappeared in a poof of smoke. "I believe you told my clone 'what learning possibility'." Blake stated more than asked, and upon seeing the recurring bewilderment on her partners faces continued "When shadow clones are destroyed or recalled, all of their memories and experience travels back to the user. This makes them invaluable for covert operations and brings a huge boost when learning new techniques. Basically, if I were to train with a shadow clone for one hour I would receive two hours of experience. This works for everything except physical conditioning of course, however it does improve reflexes."

"Why don't they teach this to every ninja?" Yang questioned out loud.

Blake readily answered her "Well first it was pretty much exclusive to the Leaf for a while, although other villages have their own variations. Secondly and more importantly to make just one clone you have to split your chakra, which for many young ninja is potentially life threatening. I'm considered to have a very large amount of chakra for a genin, yet the most I can make and still use other jutsu is four. While you do get chakra back along with the clone's memories, it's not as much as was used to make it. One time I tried to create ten clones, and that led to me being in the hospital for three days from chakra exhaustion."

"So don't overdo it basically?" Yang asked.

Blake nodded "Yeah, I'll make sure to bring the scroll tomorrow, but you guys really shouldn't make more than one. Over time your reserves will grow, especially since we'll be depleting most of them on a regular basis."

Pyrrha smiled at that "So Yang, would you like to go next?"

The blonde perked up at her chance to show off why she had been named Tensai. Yang strolled in front of the other two, grin plastered on her face, and removed a pair of gauntlets. "This ladies," Yang gestured towards her gold and black gauntlets "is Ember Celica." The metal armament fitted Yang like a glove, covering nearly all her wrists.

"These babies are made of chakra conductive metal, like your sword. My uncle helped me create them a few years ago, they help me mold chakra to my hands." The bruiser explained "Not that I need them to mold chakra, they just make it a little easier."

"Than let's see it." Blake challenged with a grin.

Yang matched the smile with one of her own and flashed a few hand seals "Lightning Style: Lightning Ball!" As she finished a sphere of energy quickly formed in her left palm. The white ball pulsed erratically, almost as if the energy inside was trying to escape. Yang let the two observe the ball, then threw it at the tree Blake had practiced on. A large crack was heard as the sphere impacted with the tree, leaving scorched bark surrounding a deep hole.

"That'll certainly stop an opponent." Pyrrha remarked, observing the destruction before her. Blake nodded in agreement, as Yang gave a proud thumbs up.

"The real reason I use Ember Celica though is for this." Yang began as she got back into her stance, the girl then punched her fists together shouting "High Voltage!" Upon contact her gauntlets erupted in a burst of energy, as visible lightning surrounded the metal crackling with the air. "This gives my taijutsu an even bigger edge." Yang said holding her still lighting covered hands up.

Blake joined Pyrrha in being wide eyed, giving Yang the perfect opportunity for "What? Are you guys in _shock_?"

The blonde was forced to dodge a few shuriken after saying that, but Blake and Pyrrha were still a bit in awe. Pyrrha couldn't help but praise "You must have incredible control in lighting chakra to hold that for so long."

"Yeah," Blake easily agreed "but was the 'High Voltage' really necessary?"

"Not at all, but sometimes you just gotta say what feels right." Yang answered, while powering down her gauntlets. Yang chuckled at seeing the faunus roll her eyes "Anyways I can hold that for about ten minutes, before I start feeling drained." The lightning user suddenly snapped her fingers "Oh yeah, I also use these!" Yang then gestured to the bands around her ankles and elbows.

Pyrrha didn't understand what Yang meant, but Blake being someone studying fuinjutsu caught on quickly "Gravity seals?"

"Bingo!" Yang exclaimed, confirming Blake's guess "They're basically an advanced form of weights, I just add a bit of chakra for how much weight I want on or off. It's great for physical conditioning!"

Blake nodded "I was considering using them myself, I suppose there's no better time to start." The faunus then turned to Pyrrha "I'll be sure to get you a set, if you want one of course."

The redhead smiled in return "That would be greatly appreciated, now I believe it's my turn." Pyrrha confidently walked in front of the two girls and looked at the damage they had inflicted "I don't think there is much hope for the tree, but nevertheless I'll avoid it."

Pyrrha moved a bit further into the grass field and settled into a stance, creating a few hand signs she began "Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!" She slammed her hands to the ground, and in turn the ground rose forming a large wall in front of her. The wall itself was easily a foot taller than the already tall redhead and easily concealed the girls view of her.

Yang clapped as Pyrrha walked around the wall saying "One of us has to have something resembling defense."

Blake chuckled and asked "Could you make a wall out of rock, instead of just compacted dirt?"

"Yes, but it would take a considerably larger amount of chakra and I doubt it would be as large. It's possible for me to make a wall with no material present, but I haven't mastered the technique to that degree yet." Pyrrha answered "I have another similar technique." With that she reverted to the same stance and flashed similar hand seals "Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole!" There was a flash of smoke and as it dissipated no Pyrrha.

Blake and Yang were dumbfounded their eyes frantically searching for the missing girl. Upon finding nothing Yang asked "Please tell me we didn't lose a teammate on our first day."

"You haven't, at least not yet." The girls turned around to see Pyrrha standing there, brushing off a bit of dirt on her armor. The two were about to question her, but stopped when they noticed the hole in the ground next to the red head.

"Hiding like a mole." Blake mused.

"Yep," Pyrrha confirmed "pretty self explanatory. I can move through rock as well, but like the wall it takes a lot more chakra and I haven't really nailed it down yet."

"You said you had three?" Yang asked.

With an uncharacteristic giant grin Pyrrha answered "Correct, and this is my favorite." She broke back into her stance, making completely different hand seals "Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!" Pyrrha rose her fingers to her lips, and as she did flames began to erupt from her mouth in a continuous jet. She stopped after a few seconds, and turned to see Yang right in front of her.

"You will teach me how to do that!" Yang demanded as she shaked the girls shoulders.

Pyrrha answered quickly, with sincerity and just a bit of fear "I would be happy too!"

"Awesome!" Yang cheered as she did a little jump, before turning to her teammates once more "Now," the evil smile returned "who is up for some sparring?"

Her teammates collectively gulped and shared a panicked look. Blake rushed to make an excuse, but Pyrrha beat her to it "I would love to Yang really, but I do not have my spear on me. Without my weapon I'd be no match for you up close, but Blake does have her sword."

The faunus glared at her red headed teammate with a rotten look she had never given anyone else before. However, Blake's glare was broken when a certain blonde's gaze was refocused onto her. "Alright Blakey, looks like it's you and me."

Blake sighed and accepted her fate "Fine, but no ninjutsu allowed." That rule was really more for Blake herself, she didn't want to seriously harm Yang, but it's also true she didn't want to be on the receiving end of Yang's shock therapy.

'_Oh Kami' _Blake thought _'It hasn't even been a day and she's already got me making puns in my head.'_

Pyrrha stepped backwards saying "I'll referee, to win you have to prove you can get an incapacitating blow on the other, obviously without actually delivering the hit."

The tension in the field seemed to increase as the faunus and blonde stared one another down. Blake doubted she could defeat Yang in a pure taijutsu battle, but she wouldn't let the bruiser win easily.

Both girls had their weapons ready before Pyrrha had given the go to start the spar. As Pyrrha yelled "Go!" Blake took off hoping to catch Yang off guard. While the fast assault did surprise Yang, she recovered quickly and was able to raise her gauntlets in time to block a slash from Blake. The faunus made several blows with her sword, but each were intercepted by the blonde's metal guards.

Yang stopped Blake's assault by grabbing the girl's wrist holding the sword and delivering a swift kick to the girls stomach. Blake flew backwards, grunting in pain, but was able to stay on her feet as Yang began her offensive.

The faunus knew a few good punches from her super powered teammate would take her out, so she didn't risk blocking with her sword and instead opted for dodging. Normally dodging is easier when your attacker is slower than you, Blake had a serious problem considering she was only marginally faster than Yang. The blonde sent a barrage of jabs, just barely missing her target, hoping to tire out Blake early.

Blake knew she wouldn't be able to hold out longer than Yang, so she made a bit of a risky move. Blake ducked under Yang's jab and kneed the girl in the stomach. Being too close to slash at the blonde with her sword, Blake instead hit Yang in the back with the sheath, propelling her forward. While Yang moved forward Blake jumped in the other direction, but the bruiser managed to grab a hold on one of her feet. With her foot caught Blake was forced to the ground, and before she could counter the blonde was over her.

Yang grabbed both of Blake's wrists and upon slamming them on the ground, made the girl lose her grip on Gambol Shroud. As Yang pulled back for a punch to end the fight, Pyrrha yelled "Match over!" naming Yang the victor.

Both girls breathed heavily as Yang was still over Blake. "Not bad Blakey." The blonde said, staring at the girl beneath her.

"If we were allowed to use ninjutsu I would have kicked your ass." Blake retorted with a grin. Honestly she wasn't sure if the use of ninjutsu would have still let her win, but Blake knew she would have had more of a chance.

Yang smiled at the jab "Well than it's a good thing we didn't use ninjutsu. If you had gotten my hair wet with those water tricks of yours, than we would have had a real fight."

Both girls laughed slightly until Blake realized Yang was still straddling her "Yang?"

"Yeah?" The blonde asked not noticing anything odd at all.

"You're still on me." Blake said slipping in a small tone of annoyance to mess with her teammate a bit.

Yang turned quite red and jumped off the faunus "Sorry! Got a bit carried away."

"Well that was quite cute." Pyrrha said with a grin, watching Yang rub her head bashfully and Blake having propped herself up light smirk.

Blake looked up at the darkening sky "Damn, it got late fast."

"Time flies when you're showing off how badass you are." Yang stated simply.

Pyrrha snorted at that and waved "Well I'm due back home for dinner, see you two at the Donkage's office around eight tomorrow?"

With Blake nodding and Yang's answer of "Sounds good to me." Pyrrha left the two in the field.

"Today has definitely been interesting." Blake said as she stood up, dusting herself off.

Yang watched as Blake picked up her sword and sealed it back "And awesome!" The blonde exclaimed, showing her opinion of the day.

"And awesome." Blake admitted with a smile, she turned to leave the field with a small wave "See you tomorrow Yang, give my regards to your family."

"Later Blakey! And mine to yours!" Yang yelled back.

**(15 Minutes Later Belladonna Clan Main House)**

The whole walk to her clan grounds, Blake couldn't shake the grin on her face. The faunus had rarely felt this type of joy before and didn't want to lose the feeling. Her upbringing wasn't exactly the most normal one, even by most ninja family standards.

Blake lost her smile and feeling of nirvana as she stepped over the threshold of her clan's main house, her house. The girl tried to make her way towards her room quickly, but was stopped in the hallway by a voice from the adjoining room.

"How was graduation?" The cool voice asked.

Blake looked into the house's family room to see her mother, the Belladonna clan head, sitting on the ground with her legs underneath her. Lorea Belladonna was easily identifiable as Blake's mother. They shared the same cat ears and long black hair, however Lorea's was starting to show strands of gray in hers. Lorea's build while athletic like her daughter's was, but several inches shorter than her offspring.

The heir knew this was a test. There was very little doubt in Blake's mind that her mother didn't know she had been named Tensai. Blake had to hold back a scoff, imagining how many other daughters had to guess when their mother was testing them or not.

"I don't believe it could have gone any better. I have been placed on team Tensai along with Pyrrha Nikos and Yang Xiao Long." Blake answered, deciding to play along.

"Hmm," Her mother began "the Nikos heir has great potential as an ally, however I fear the Long heir will become a burden."

Blake was surprised at the outrage she felt rise in her chest at that comment. _How dare she insult Yang like that!_ The faunus didn't know where this sudden urge to protect the blonde came from, but she wasn't ashamed to accept it. "I believe she will surprise you mother." Blake retorted, hiding her annoyance with practice.

Leora opened her eyes, clearly not expecting that answer. Blake didn't give her a chance to continue voicing her opinion "I should eat and rest, the Donkage is giving us our first mission tomorrow."

Leora nodded, but Blake was already moving towards her room.

**(Long Clan Main House)**

As Yang entered her home before she could voice/yell her arrival, a pair of arms wrapped around her side. "Yang!" Ruby, Yang's younger sister exclaimed.

Yang chuckled and hugged her sister back "Hey Rubes."

"C'mon," Ruby ordered while pulling Yang's wrist "Dad and Qrow are waiting!"

Yang smiled as Ruby pulled her into the kitchen only to be met with another bear hug, this time by her father Taiyang Xiao Long. The tall lean man with short blonde hair was where Yang inherited her infectious smile from. The Long clan head is the kind of man who always strived to make those close to him smile.

"My girl is a Tensai!" Taiyang exclaimed as he swung his daughter around the room.

Yang laughed as her father twirled her around "As I said earlier, was there ever any doubt?"

"None at all!" Taiyang responded "It's just another reminder of how great my genes are, you're about to begin your ninja career just as I did!"

"If I remember correctly," A new voice began "you graduated dead last in our class."

The rooms' occupants turned towards the door leading to the kitchen to see the more rational of the Long brothers, Qrow. Yang smiled and ran towards her uncle. The younger black haired Long twin received his niece with open arms, chuckling the whole time.

"I heard you got grouped with Blake and Pyrrha." Ruby stated as Yang ended her hug with her uncle.

"Yep!" Yang confirmed "I got lucky too, they're both awesome!"

"Pyrrha's father is a good man, let's just hope Blake doesn't turn out like her mother." Taiyan stated, knowing firsthand about the clan heads having dealt with both on numerous occasions.

"Blakey is the best teammate I could hope for." Yang responded, showing how she had immediately gathered some fondness for the faunus.

Qrow decided it was a good time to add "Your mother would be proud of you, unlike your father she was a Tensai with me."

Yang truly smiled at that. She never had the chance to meet the woman and often worried about not being able to honor her, yet Yang felt she was now on the right path to go about doing that.

**(Nikos Clan Main House)**

Pyrrha was enjoying a nice home cooked meal at the dinner table with her mother and father on either side of her.

"I still can't believe it, my daughter a shinobi." Pyrrha's mother, Prim Nikos, said with a loving smile only a mother can make. Prim was an older version of Pyrrha, while not being a ninja, she retained quite a healthy physique.

Marik Nikos, the red headed Nikos clan head, shared his wife's smile adding "And a Tensai at that. I would tell Taiyang to suck it if his daughter hadn't been placed on the same team as Pyrrha."

"Marik." Prim warned with a stern tone, before asking "When was the last time an all female Tensai team was created?"

Marik thought for a moment "As far a I can recall there hasn't been one in at least twenty years." He gained another grin "Looks like our daughter may have broken a record as well."

Pyrrha smiled as she watched her parents bicker and loved hearing their praise. Everything seemed to be working perfectly for the redhead, she was placed on a great team and had earned her parents admiration. What else was there to ask for?

Pyrrha was brought out of her musing when her father said "I have something to give you Pyrrha."

The heiress was surprised at her father's unusual serious tone of voice, but her mother seemed to know what was he was addressing when she said "Already? I thought you were going to wait until she was a chunin?"

"I was," Marik answered "but the duties of a Tensai aren't all that different from that of a chunin really." At this Pyrrha's father turned to her.

"Pyrrha, it's time for you to sign our clans summoning contract."

**(Donkage's Office Later That Night)**

Ozpin was sipping his coffee, just finishing reading a report when his old teammate and now adviser Glynda Goodwitch entered the room.

"Good evening Glynda," Ozpin greeted his oldest friend "I assume this isn't a social call?"

Glynda cut to the chase as she always does "One of Mistrals agents have made a sighting on Torchwick."

At that name, Ozpin set down his mug and held his hands together "What have they discovered?"

"Apparently he has been inducted into a new organization." Glynda answered.

"Which is?"

"They go by Akatsuki."


	2. Chapter 2

Blake woke up with a yawn to the ever dreadful sound of her alarm clock. It was particularly dreadful this morning because she had slept rather pleasantly, which did not happen often. Her dreams had been full of the eventual adventures her team would in time embark on. What Blake found a little odd was that in her dreams, she seemed to heavily focus on the new blonde in her life.

The faunus begrudgingly left her bed and immediately set off to finish waking up with a hot shower. After the process of washing and scrubbing, Blake redressed herself in her usual shinobi attire. Blake knew her punctual mother had already left that morning, no doubt addressing some clan issue she deemed worth her time.

The black haired girl set about to make breakfast when she heard a knock at the door. Blake was genuinely surprised, she could probably count on one hand the amount of times someone had knocked on their door. Her mother certainly never knocked, and the Belladonna clan isn't exactly the type for random social calls.

Blake opened the door to find a very relieved yet flustered looking Yang. Surprised, the faunus ignored the odd feeling in her stomach and greeted the blonde "Good morning."

"Heh, hi." Yang said while looking unusually nervous "You see I just woke up a bit earlier than usual and figured our clan grounds weren't that far from each other, and I know we said we'd meet at the Donkage's office-" Blake would have stopped the blonde's ramblings, but the bruisers own stomach grumbling beat her to it. It seemed to be making a habit of interrupting conversations.

"Let me guess you didn't eat breakfast?" Blake asked with a small smile.

Yang rubbed her head a bit embarrassed in response "I thought I forgot something."

Blake chuckled and opened the door "Well come on, you're just in time for eggs." Yang did a complete 180 from the uncertain girl back to the confident bruiser.

"Sweet!" Yang yelled to the quiet house "Thanks Blakey!"

Blake rolled her eyes, pretending that the nickname still bothered her. To be honest she didn't really mind if people called her Blakey, and by people she meant person, and by person she means the blonde looking through her pantry.

Yang watched as her teammate grabbed two frying pans from the cupboards and moved towards the stove. Without needing to be asked Yang grabbed the carton of eggs from the fridge and brought them to the faunus, who gave a small smile in return.

"How do you like them?" Blake asked the blonde who was now seated at her kitchen table.

"Scrambled please," Yang began "and I suppose you wouldn't have any hot sauce?"

Blake laughed at that, which Yang decided was now one of her favorite noises and would trying her damndest to make her teammate laugh as much as possible. Blake turned away from the stove and disappeared into the pantry only to come out with a small red bottle.

The black haired shinobi placed the bottle in front of her guest saying "I'll let you decide how much you want to ruin your breakfast."

Yang snorted at that as Blake returned to the eggs "I gotta say Blake, your relatives seem cool, but give off a creepy vibe."

Yang did a little dance in her head when she heard the faunus laugh again "Well we have to keep up the image as the _mysterious _clan. When did you get a chance to meet members of my clan?"

The blonde blushed slightly at that remembering the interactions that happened barely ten minutes ago, "Well this morning I wasn't quite sure which house was yours, so I started knocking on doors." Blake turned around to look at the embarrassed blonde "I only got the wrong house three times." Yang had to change her answer when the faunus raised a questioning eyebrow "Okay four, but you know fifth times the charm!"

Blake shook her head amused as she grabbed the two frying pans "You do realize you could have just asked the occupants of the first house you knocked on for directions?"

"Yeah when I said your clan was creepy, I meant terrifying." The bruiser answered as Blake set her scrambled eggs in front of her, which were quickly drowned in hot sauce.

The two ate in companionable silence as Yang enjoyed her scrambled eggs and Blake her omelet, until they heard the door open. Blake inwardly sighed knowing the only person that could be.

Leora walked past the kitchen then suddenly stopped and entered the room, clearly looking at the blonde with hot sauce on her lip. "Blake, I don't believe you asked me if someone could come over this morning."

Yang, not really understanding why her friend's mother was making such a big deal about the situation, was about to take blame for the situation "Oh, I'm sorry Belladonna-san I-"

"Sorry mother," Blake interrupted her friend "it must have slipped my mind with how tired I was last night."

It was obvious for Blake to see that Leora didn't accept that answer, but the clan head managed to keep her cool facade together in front of the Long heir. "See that it doesn't happen again." With that the Belladonna head grabbed a scroll from one of the adjoining rooms and was out the door once more.

The kitchen was silent until Yang decided she couldn't bare it any longer "Well your mom, seems.." the blonde trailed off, trying to find a suitable word.

"Bitchy." Blake easily answered with a small sigh.

Yang couldn't disagree "Well I was gonna say strict, but yeah bitchy works too."

"Sorry about her," Blake apologized "she's never been easy to approve of someone, let alone like. Not even sure if I fit into that category." The faunus said the last part in a small murmur that the blonde had to strain to hear.

It tore Yang deep hearing Blake describe her relationship with her mother. The blonde hated seeing her so downtrodden _'Damnit I shall make her smile!'_ The blonde vowed, gaining a smile herself, remembering what's in her pocket.

"I nearly forgot," Yang began getting the faunus' attention "I was poking around our clan's library and found this."

As the blonde handed Blake the scroll, the dark haired girl's eyes widened upon reading the title of the scroll. "Yang! This is an A Rank wind jutsu!" Blake exclaimed.

"Yep" Yang nodded, very pleased with herself "it's the only wind jutsu my clan has and we don't have any wind users, so I figured it was perfect to give to you."

Blake smiled at the gesture before pulling out a scroll of her own. "I actually planned on giving you this along with Pyrrha's but since were giving gifts now." Blake pulled out two thin yellow metal bracelets.

"Blakey they're awesome!" Yang squealed as she looked at the strange inscription on the side of them. "I've absolutely no idea what it says, but I'm sure it's great!"

Blake chuckled and said "Put them on," Which Yang eagerly did and began inspecting how they looked on her until Blake continued "now put your gauntlets on over them."

Yang looked at Blake clearly confused, but after a bit of gesturing from the faunus, the blonde followed orders. "Okay they're on." Yang confirmed having slipped on her metal gauntlets over the bracelets, surprised to find that it wasn't uncomfortable to layer them.

"Now send a bit of chakra to the bracelets," Blake instructed "just like how you do your gravity seals." Yang shrugged and followed suit, gasping when in a flash her gauntlets disappeared only the bracelets occupied her wrists. Immediately understanding the concept, Yang pulsed the chakra once more and her gauntlets reappeared.

"I figured this would save you having to pull them out of a scroll or your pocket during a fi-" Blake would have continued if the blonde hadn't scooped the girl up in a hug.

"Blakey!" Yang exclaimed "You're seriously the best! Ever! Of all time!" A blushing Blake chuckled and hugged back.

"I'm glad you like it." Blake said as the two broke apart from their embrace.

"How could I not?" Yang asked "They'll be a big boost and potential life saver in combat, and they also look freaking beautiful!" The blonde gave the faunus another smile before adding "It would have sucked if you hadn't made Tensai."

Blake tried to suppress the blush coming over her at hearing the sincerity in her friend's voice. She was able to stop herself from looking like a tomato and replied "I'm glad you're Tensai as well."

The two caught eyes for a moment, both clearly enjoying the situation and wishing for it to continue, but unsure where to go from here. "You mentioned you had something for Pyrrha as well?" Yang asked trying to keep the moment intact.

"Yeah," Blake answered, glad the blonde brought it up "I put this together for her spear." Blake pulled a red glove out of the same storage scroll Yang's bracelets had been in "Same concept really, except it's a glove."

Yang held out her hand silently asking to see the glove, which Blake had no problem with. The blonde looked at the palm of the glove, observing the detailed black illustration, which no doubt was the fuinjutsu. "It kind of looks like a pentagram." Yang remarked.

"It's the style my clan usually uses when developing fuinjutsu." Blake informed her teammate "Although, for your gauntlets I used more of a written style, since I had less area to work with when drawing."

"There are different styles?" Yang asked, knowing next to nothing about the uncommon jutsu practice.

"Hundreds, if not thousands." Blake answered "The source material is the same, just think about it like different ways of accessing it. Everyone has what they prefer."

Blake was surprised at how intently Yang was listening to her explanation, not thinking the blonde would be interested in the art at all. Blake would have eagerly continued, however the faunus noticed the time the kitchen clock read.

"Well blondie," Blake addressed the girl standing up "we should probably get a move on. Pyrrha seems the patient type, but I'd rather not keep her waiting."

Yang noticed the time as well and jumped from her seat leading the faunus to the front door. However they were stopped when Yang opened the door and turned back to Blake with a devilish grin on her face.

"Blondie?" Said blonde asked quite cheekily.

Blake shrugged "If you insist on calling me Blakey, I need something to get you back with. I've come up with a few others if you don't like blondie."

The blonde snorted as she walked out the door "Blondie's great Blakey, but variety is a good thing!"

The faunus rolled her eyes with a smile before following the girl.

**(Donkage's Tower)**

As Blake and Yang approached the five story tower they saw the redhead standing in front of the doors waiting for them.

"Morning." Pyrrha offered with a smile.

"Heya," Yang offered "we didn't keep you waiting did we?"

Pyrrha shook her head "No, I've only been here for about a minute."

With that the three entered the tower, the first floor being mainly occupied by the administration desk. The administration desk was where missions were received by shinobi and upon completion where mission reports were given. As they entered the girls saw the Donkage sat behind a large white table, several chunin seated by him no doubt addressing mission reports.

"Ah, team Tensai." The Donkage smiled upon seeing the girls approach the desk. "Before you are given your first mission, there is something else I must give you."

As he was speaking Ozpin presented three Vale headbands to the girls. Each headband had the Vale symbol of a diamond composed of four small dots, a symbol for the four villages in the Remnant alliance. What was special about these particular headbands was the mint green ribbon. Usually Vale headbands are tied to a shinobi with a blue ribbon, however the mint green garment was used to show that the shinobi wearing them are Tensai.

The girls smiled upon receiving them and quickly added them to their attire. Blake tied her headband to her upper left arm, Yang added hers to the belt of her shorts, and Pyrrha placed hers on the upper thigh of her left leg.

"Now that that's out of the way," Ozpin began while a chunin next to him handed him a paper "There is actually a special matter I would like you to take care of if you're interested." The girls perked up at that and Ozpin chuckled at Yang's very insistent nodding. "It's considered a C Rank mission, lately we've had a bit of a bandit problem in one of the towns on our border with Konoha. Recently we sent two chunin who took care of the local bandit population and captured the leader. They were going to bring the leader back to the village, but they were needed for another matter in the area."

"So you want us to bring the leader back?" Blake asked, seeing what the Donkage was getting at.

Ozpin nodded "Correct Miss Belladonna."

"May I ask why?" Yang inquired "Is the leader special for some reason?"

"Yes, what can we gain from him?" Pyrrha added.

"Good of you to notice that." Ozpin commended before explaining "First we've had a bandit problem in that area for too long now, it seems every time we destroy their population a new one will arise to take their place."

"So it's like a scare tactic?" Yang guessed.

"Exactly, hopefully any other ambitious criminals in the area will be dissuaded from trying to begin their operations again." Ozpin replied "There is also the matter of Konoha to consider. The town in question, Hirata, is relatively new and hasn't exactly picked a village to pledge themselves too. Normally a population will choose only one village for mission requests, but Hirata being on the border between us and Konoha haven't yet made an allegiance. Hopefully by them seeing us take a known criminal away for punishment will assist in them making up their minds."

The girls nodded at the information "Any threats?" Blake asked, wondering how difficult their first mission would be.

"The leader will be drugged, so he will just be placed in a coffin for transport. There shouldn't be any significant Grimm presence in the area, but a cleaning patrol is due to go through there soon. However, you will have to move at top speed, there's a risk a Konoha team could get there before us and try taking the captive." Ozpin answered.

"How would they even know about the prisoner?" Pyrrha asked.

Ozpin held his hands together replying "The Leaf have also been making efforts to get that village to lean towards them, it's very likely they have agents in the town."

"Then we should get going." Yang stated, as Ozpin handed the mission scroll to Blake.

"Good luck Tensai." The Donkage offered, having the genin nod in return and leave.

Ozpin was about to leave momentarily to brew his special coffee recipe, when a chunin came to his kage's side "Donkage-sama?"

"Yes?" Ozpin asked his shinobi.

"It appears Team 4 has had a small incident." The shinobi reported.

"Oh?" Was all Ozpin offered, normally he would have been worried at the mention of his shinobi encountering trouble, but he remembered giving Team 4 a mission earlier. Team 4 being one of the new genin teams, Ozpin had given them a simple D Rank taking place in the village.

"It appears that when painting the shop owners wall, Miss Valkyrie painted two walls pink when the owner requested red."

Ozpin made a small sigh "And the owner is refusing to pay?"

The shinobi shook their head, causing Ozpin to blink "Apparently the owner is a Valkyrie as well and loves the look. They would like to give Team 4 a bonus."

**(Vale Main Gate)**

Pyrrha absolutely loved the glove Blake had made her and immediately gave the faunus a hug upon receiving the gift. The redhead felt a shiver go through her the second she made contact with her teammate for some reason. Still holding Blake, Pyrrha opened her eyes and made direct eye contact with one agitated looking blonde.

Getting the message the redhead broke away from the embrace with the faunus and proceeded to give a verbal thank you. Once Pyrrha had sealed her five foot gold and crimson spear, Milo, into her glove she produced a map.

Holding it open for the others to see Pyrrha began "Vale isn't too far from our border with Konoha, so at full speed we should arrive there in three or four hours."

"I'm guessing stopping for lunch when we get there is out of the picture." Yang stated.

"We can't risk a confrontation with Leaf," Blake replied "we can eat once we've gotten the prisoner and ourselves back closer to Vale."

The blonde conceded and Pyrrha put away her map. They walked to the main gates, where four chunin were present. Two stood at the bottom, while the other two kept watch on the tall wall that surrounded the city. Looking closely you could see pairs of shinobi stationed all around the wall.

Blake handed the scroll to the chunin who inspected it and nodded handing the scroll back to the faunus before opening the gate. As the large doors opened the girls gazed at the green plain that surrounded the village only to end where a thick forest began.

With a nod to each other they broke off into a sprint for the trees.

**(Two Hours Later Vale Forest)**

For an experienced ninja tree hopping is second nature. It becomes as simple as walking, which is great to have considering that nearly every region in the Elemental Nations have thick areas of forest. Newly made genin might have trouble with the exercise, but being clan heirs Team Tensai had trained in tree hopping many times already.

They travelled in silence focusing on the task at hand and moving at their top speed. Well, top speed for Blake and Pyrrha, Yang was forced to pace herself a bit so the others could keep up. However, as they continued the blonde sensed another chakra source following them quickly. Yang was no sensor, but she had some abilities that one would have, having a knack for detecting chakra was one of them. Now she could detect it, but that was virtually it. She wouldn't be able to distinguish a kage from a citizen.

Yang motioned for the others to stop and they complied, each standing on individual branches. "Something is coming fast." Yang told the two.

Blake removed her katana from the sheath on her side and Pyrrha clapped her hands together, which activated the seal on her glove removing Milo from it. Yang had already had her gauntlets summoned the moment she stopped and watched the ground as she could see something forcing the surrounding bushes to move rapidly. A moment later a large black mass erupted from the vegetation running directly underneath the Tensai and then away from them, not even noticing the shinobi.

"Ursa." Pyrrha identified the creature, having hunted one with her father once before.

"We can't let some poor passerby become it's meal," Blake remarked "c'mon the three of us should be able to take it out fairly quickly."

The other two nodded, completely agreeing with the faunus. "And it happens to be going in the direction we are." Yang added before the three began moving again.

The trio followed the Grimm for a mile until the trees momentarily ended and they entered a small clearing. The Ursa was waiting for them, however it seemed to have had a friend waiting, for another Ursa was with it.

"Oh," Yang remarked surprised at the new foe, but not in the least worried "well that could potentially make me break a sweat."

Blake rolled her eyes with a grin and made two shadow clones to assist with the fight. "So how do we wanna do this?" The faunus asked, surprised the Ursa hadn't decided to just charge them yet.

"Yang take Blake's clones and try to keep one off us while we take the other out." Pyrrha said, taking the leadership role.

Yang nodded with a happy grin as she prepared her jutsu "Lightning Release: Lightning Ball!" The orb of energy was launched from the blonde's hand and the slightly larger Ursa attempted to evade it, but received a glancing blow causing it to howl in pain. Yang leapt away from the others as that Ursa decided to follow the one who wounded it. Both of Blake's clones followed the blonde, and if it wasn't for Pyrrha and the faunus herself the other Ursa would have given chase as well.

"Keep it occupied!" Pyrrha yelled to Blake as she disappeared into the ground only leaving a hole. Blake moved in front of the Ursa as it charged her and ducked under a blow from one of its paws, while delivering a slice to its side. The beast didn't falter from the slight wound and turned to try and strike at Blake with its other paw.

The faunus once more ducked under the paw and decided to try a different attack. "Wind Release: Air Bullet!" The ball of compressed air hit the Grimm directly on its stomach, forcing a very audible moan to come from its mouth. Blake jumped back and noticed the several cuts that marked the spot where her jutsu hit.

The Ursa seemed to recover and about to attempt another charge, when Pyrrha took that opportunity to pop out of the ground behind it. Using her spear, Pyrrha stabbed deep into the back of the beast before quickly pulling her weapon out as the Ursa turned around. Blake used this moment to shoot forward and slice the back of the Grimm's neck before stabbing it in the side. The faunus felt her blade slide between ribs and was sure she hit something vital when the beast slumped over.

Pyrrha ended its life with a quick stab to the heart, allowing the two to check how their bruiser was faring. Quite well they found out, as they turned in time to see Blake's remaining clone use a water whip to stop one of the Ursas paws from coming down on Yang. The blonde used this opportunity to send several electric punches to the beaches face, successfully knocking it over on its back. Yang finished the monster sending several shuriken to its exposed throat.

"Ah, being awesome" Yang began with a devilish grin "is a beautiful thing."

Blake smiled and popped her clone "It is oddly satisfying." The faunus then looked conflicted for a moment "That's not weird is it?"

"In our profession I believe weird has a very different definition, as far as things go this is pretty tame." Pyrrha informed them.

"Do you think we have time to skin them?" The blonde asked, handling a kunai quite enthusiastically.

When the blonde was met with two blank stares, she decided it was best to just put the weapon away.

**(Two Hours Later in Hirata)**

While the town Hirata may have been relatively new, compared to other settlements it had grown quite rapidly. Judging on the amount of buildings the girls had to guess there was a resident population of at least sixty people. As the population continued to grow, the amount of missions will as well, and Vale could benefit greatly from their allegiance.

The mission scroll instructed that they would pick up the captive at the local prison. Most areas depended on ninja for protection, however if a settlement is located too far away for immediate shinobi aid they have to rely on themselves.

The prison in Hirata wasn't much to look at really. It was next to their town hall and one of the few stone buildings in the settlement. Inside there were only a few cells made of iron bars, and one guard stationed. He was a middle aged man who looked to have a bit of a problem turning the captive over to some girls a third his age. Which was understandable, considering most people who don't live in a ninja village hardly ever have any contact with shinobi, even those who pay for their services don't always get to see their capabilities. However, this was definitely not the effect the girls wanted to leave so Yang may have turned her gloves on for a new "impression".

After the blonde's light show the guard didn't have any other concerns to voice. He opened one of the cells to show the girls what looked like a wooden gourd with a red rope surrounding it. "You're chunin said that the drug they gave him should keep him under for another day." The guard explained as he struggled to bring the container out of the cell.

He was breathing heavily as he carried their "package" outside the jail for them. "Are you sure you can carry that all the way back to your village?" The still somewhat skeptical man asked.

His eyes widened as he watched Yang easily heft the large container over one shoulder, "I think we'll manage." Blake answered with a grin.

The man nodded still shocked and the girls left without another word, making sure to take their time walking through the town. They were quite satisfied with their exit.

**(Back Into the Woods)**

As the Tensai were once more moving they had to stop when the leading blonde once more felt a chakra source.

"It's more than one this time," Yang informed the others "and they're much faster. Whatever they are they're almost as fast as us."

"Leaf?" Pyrrha asked, voicing what they were all thinking.

"Possibly," Blake entertained the idea "we're not that far into our own territory, so it's not impossible that they'd try and take the captive back. There's also the possibility it's our people, but just to be safe I'd rather they not overtake us."

"This damn coffin is gonna slow us down, so that might just happen." The blonde stated "The longer we talk, the closer they're getting."

Blake decided to make a decision than, she quickly made a shadow clone. "Give my clone the coffin, she'll move ahead while we deal with whoever is coming."

"I don't like it, but our options are limited." Pyrrha stated as Yang handed the container to the clone, who immediately took off in the direction of Vale.

Blake was about to make the hand seal for more shadow clones, when a worried Yang objected "Wait! You've already made three, are you sure you can-"

The blonde was cut off when Blake interjected "Don't worry Blondie, I've recovered some chakra from earlier. A few more clones shouldn't be a problem."

Yang looked like she was about to argue further with the faunus, but Pyrrha cut in "We really don't have time for this."

The blonde kept her stare on Blake for a moment longer clearly worried about her teammate, but then conceded with a murmured "Fine." Blake continued with her jutsu and summoned two more clones.

"Fan out and stay hidden," Blake addressed her clones "if things go bad help where you can."

As the clones left to disappear among the trees the Tensai took a deep breath and prepared themselves. Pyrrha and Blake had their weapons ready, but Yang decided to keep her gauntlets sealed, hoping she could surprise her foe.

The forest became eerily quiet for a moment, allowing the girls to experience their first "calm before the storm".

The moment ended as Yang said "They're here."

Not a moment later three figures burst through the tree line with a shout "Ninja of Vale!"

The girls sized their possible enemies up and concluded that they were Leaf Genin, most likely around the same age as the girls themselves. It was a team of two boys and one girl. The boy in front had long brunette hair with his headband around his forehead, the girl was also a brunette with a very odd hairstyle, although what made the Vale ninja pause was the other boy dressed in some kind of green jump suit.

* * *

><p><strong>Heya, hope you guys are enjoying the story so far. I planned on making this chapter a bit longer, but I believe this cliffhanger is worth it. I'm sure you can expect what the girls are in store for next chapter. The true question is, will they be youthful enough?<strong>

**Until Next Time**


	3. Chapter 3

The two teams of genin were silent as they regarded one another. From the moment they came into view, strategies started to go through Blake's mind. However, she was forced to pause when she noticed the boy leading the Leaf trio. No, not the oddly dressed boy with black hair, although she certainly did falter a moment upon seeing him.

Blake was paying special consideration to the boy with pale gray eyes, which seemed to have no pupils. That feature made Blake think deeply, in the back of her head she knew something was significant about those eyes.

As Blake was racking her brain, Pyrrha called to the newcomers "I suppose you haven't followed us for a social call?"

The girl with the odd hairstyle chuckled at that and the green jump suited boy very enthusiastically answered "Fellow shinobi! Our youthful Hokage has given us the task of retrieving a prisoner of great importance! However, as we arrived at the location where we were supposed to obtain him, he was not there! I must ask if you have seen this unyouthful felon?"

The girls grew more shocked as the boy continued to speak. Not because he asked about the prisoner, no they had already assumed that's what the Leaf were after, but because the boys eyebrows seemed to dance as he spoke.

"I implore you for an answer!" The boy with the bowl cut yelled as he tightened his fists. The amused look on his female teammates face was gone and had been replaced with a rather embarrassed one, while the other boy hadn't changed his stoic look.

Yang turned to her fellow Tensai "Did I hit my head and not notice?"

"I was about to ask you the same." Blake answered theblonde, never taking her eyes off the foreign ninja.

Pyrrha sighed and yelled back "I'm afraid we can't answer you."

To their surprise the boy with the bowl cut looked perfectly content with their answer and even did a small bow "Ah, well thank you. We shall continue our search."

"Is he fucking with us?" Yang asked out loud, not believing what was currently happening.

Pyrrha was quick to answer this time "I'm afraid we can't let you search in our territory either, we'll have to ask you to leave."

Before the odd boy could reply, his stoic teammate added his voice to the conversation "Shut up Lee. There is no doubt that they aren't the ones we were told had left with the prisoner." The cool voice was then directed towards the Tensai "Tell us where he is."

"I'd answer him if I were you." The female Leaf nin added.

"Please," Yang retorted "am I supposed to be afraid of a boy in a green leotard and some other kid experimenting with contacts?"

The gray eyes narrowed at that and the boy, Lee, looked shocked "That is a most unyouthful reply!"

"He doesn't get out much does he?" Yang asked the other two members of the Leaf team.

She was met with two cold stares, and Blake suddenly gasped. "I don't know about the other two, but be careful of that lead boy." The faunus warned as her teammates listened "He's a Hyuga."

Pyrrha looked a bit alarmed for a moment, but quickly hid her shock "That will complicate things." The redhead said in a low voice.

Yang on the other hand had a completely different reaction, the blonde was laughing loudly "Perfect! Our first mission and we're already taking on a Byakugan!"

The foreign female turned toward the Hyuga at those words "Well Neji, there goes that surprise."

The Hyuga nodded to his teammate in response and Lee began unwrapping the bandages on his arms, saying "It appears you leave us no choice."

"So how do we wanna do this one?" Yang asked as she noticed the Leaf preparing themselves.

It was Blake who answered this time "Divide and conquer. Obviously the Hyuga is the biggest threat, Pyrrha you're the best suited to fight him, considering your spear gives you the most space to work with." The redhead nodded at her words, as Blake continued "Judging on the wrappings, the specimen in green appears to be an up close fighter as well. You up for it Yang?"

The blonde sighed "Fine, I'll take captain eyebrow over there. Seriously I can't tell where his bangs end and eyebrows begin."

Even before battle the blonde was able to make the faunus smile "Try not to kill, I'd rather our first mission not become the beginning of a war. I'll deal with the girl quickly to back you up Pyrrha."

Said girl heard Blake say that and sent an icy glare towards the faunus. Before they could begin however, Lee had one more thing to ask/yell "Before we fight, may I have the honor of knowing your names?"

Blake wasn't to keen on the idea of giving enemies her name, but the decision was made for her when Yang decided to yell back "Today you have the honor of fighting the beautiful kunoichi of Team Tensai!" The faunus suppressed a blush at the beautiful comment. "Pyrrha Nikos! Blake Belladonna! And yours truly Yang Xiao Long!"

At the end of her little introduction Yang charged forward, with Lee moving surprisingly fast to meet her. Blake launched several shuriken at their only female foe, only to have them all be deflected by her own projectiles. As the girl continued to throw weapons at the faunus, Blake decided to give her teammates some more space and ran into a nearby cropping of trees.

Making sure the girl was still following her Blake unsheathed her sword and turned back to meet her. The girl rose two kunai in response two Blake's katana, barely stopping the faunus' swipe. As their weapons were clashed and both girls pushing against one another, Blake pointed out "We gave you our names, yet I still don't know yours."

The girl managed to push Blake off of her and sent several kunai after the evading faunus. "If you must know, the victor of this encounter will be Tenten!" Blake continued to move as kunai and shuriken came dangerously close to hitting her.

The faunus was given no respite as she had to continuously move, however she didn't plan to just stay on the defense. Blake made hand seals as she ran yelling "Water Release: Water Whip!" The strand of water formed around Blake's wrist and as the faunus ran closer to her opponent, she shot it forward wrap around Tenten's ankle. With a yank the apparent weapons expert was knocked off her feet, giving Blake a choice she had to make quickly. The faunus could move in for a hopeful quick end to the fight or she could play it safe and put more ground between the two.

Blake was about to unsheathe her blade once more and move in, but the faunus caught sight of her clone's watching from nearby tree branches. Feeling more secure with the backup, Blake decided to rely on deception and moved further away. As Tenten was rising Blake had moved herself behind a tree trunk, hoping the girl hadn't noticed her hiding place.

The faunus heard the tell tale signs of a storage scroll being opened. A moment later she was shocked to see ample amounts of kunai and shuriken come flying past her hiding place. Blake was lucky to see the reflection of the ninja wire in the light just before the weapons were pulled from their course and straight toward the girl. The faunus muttered a curse as she was forced to jump out of cover, else become a pin cushion like the tree now is, yet she still received a few grazes on her right shoulder. Blake felt an unusual anger as she felt blood slide down her arm and saw Tenten smirk at her success. Yet, the girl was a bit surprised when Blake just stood there

"Done running?" Tenten asked quite smugly.

Blake was able to smirk back at her "Just seeing if you'll have better luck hitting a target that's not moving." Eliciting quite a glare out of her foe.

The faunus immediately reacted as Tenten sent yet another volley of weapons towards her, hands moving quickly Blake yelled "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

Tenten's eyes were wide with fear as she saw her volley of weapons now come back at her, moving at a speed she could never hope dodging. Doing the next best thing Tenten rose her arms as the projectiles impacted her. Luckily for the girl her volley was mainly made up of kunai, which were not turned around in the gust of wind. However, three of the shuriken were now deeply embedded in her forearms and a few had managed to nick her while moving past the brunnette.

The stunned Tenten wasn't able to react in time as Blake made more handsigns "Wind Release: Air Bullet!" The faunus had lowered the power of the attack so, upon impact Tenten was just pushed backwards quite roughly into a tree trunk. The even more dazed Tenten, was helpless as a rope of water wrapped around her neck, securing her tightly to the tree. To stop her arms from rising, Blake's other clone made another whip securing the girls arms to the tree.

Blake strode forward and drawed her sword, chuckling at the fear in the struggling girls eyes.

The faunus didn't say a word as she brought the sheath of her blade down on the girls temple, effectively rendering her unconscious.

As her clones dispelled the ropes grabbing Tenten themselves, the original brought a coil of rope out of a storage scroll and began ordering them "Wrap her wounds and tie her to the tree. Once you're done go help Yang if she's still fighting, I'm gonna see how Pyrrha is holding her own against the Hyuga." As Blake was walking away she stopped suddenly and added "Just to be safe, check her mouth for blades."

**(Yang's Fight)**

'_I can barely keep up with this little shit!' _Yang thought as she had to raise her arms to block another kick from the amazingly fast Lee. When they had originally parted from Pyrrha and Neji, Yang was having next to no trouble with the Leaf nin, even with his at first surprising speed. The blonde had quickly gotten off a few punches at the boy, clearly doing some damage, and apparently having the boy decide to take off his weights.

The second his weights came off they left craters in the ground. Craters. Yang barely had time to ponder that, as he was suddenly attacking her with no hint of mercy. Luckily for the blonde she was quite durable, and the attacks Lee had managed to get past her guard were able to be taken in stride.

However, the boy showed no signs of slowing down and Yang didn't want to find out which one of them would last longer. She knew she could hit a lot harder than him, but she hadn't been able to lay a hand on him since the weights came off. Yang had to turn off her gravity seals just to keep up with the boy, and that was before the weights came off!

The blonde was wondering why the boy hadn't tried to combine any ninjutsu with his onslaught of taijutsu. From what she could tell he wasn't even trying to mould chakra into his strikes, if he had Yang doubted if she would still be standing.

The bruiser pushed Lee back and observed that the boy seemed to be attempting a different strategy. The Leaf ninja reached into his waistband and pulled out a pair of nunchaku, instantly swinging them with ease and practice. '_Great!_' The blonde thought '_Even more potential bruises!'_

Although, a closer inspection of the weapons made Yang grin wickedly. The girl had formed a new plan. A terribly reckless plan, but one that could be able to end this fight. Yang stood her ground as Lee charged toward her, nunchaku swinging wildly, and opened her hands. The blonde had to clench her jaw as she took two painful blows to the sides from the swinging weapons, but as they rebounded she was able to grab them.

Both holding onto the weapons, Lee tried to pull the weapons out of Yang's grasp, only to find her grip solid. When the boy noticed the evil smile on the girl's face, he was confused but compelled to try pulling harder. "Metal nunchaku, huh?" Yang spoke as Lee struggled, attempting to knee the blonde, but having little effect.

"High Voltage!" Yang exclaimed as her gauntlets exploded in a burst of electricity. The energy shot through the metal weapons and made Lee a living circuit. The fighting expert shook violently, his bowl cut now standing completely on end, and his eyes started to roll back in his head. Yang was tempted to continue, but she remembered Blake's words from earlier about not starting an international incident.

Begrudgingly, the blonde stopped, deactivating her gloves before the boys heart exploded. Ending the circuit forced Lee to go flying back across the small field the two had been fighting in. His hands were smoldering with what looked like first maybe second degree burns. Yang smiled at her work and was about to return to the others when she felt a familiar foot on her back.

Yang was surprised Lee was breathing normally let alone moving and was not prepared for the follow up kick to her jaw. As Yang was sent reeling to the ground a very heavily breathing Lee was moving in, however he was forced to evade his course when a kunai was thrown at him from the tree line. Being Tenten's teammate Lee was easily able to evade the weapon and turned to face the direction it had come from. Although, Lee wasn't able to turn in time when the still moving kunai poofed and another Blake was standing there.

"Water Release: Gunshot!" The clone's aim was spot on and hit Lee directly in the back of the knee, forcing the boy to emit a cry and fall on one leg. While the green beast did falter he wasn't out and rose back up to begin sprinting at the clone, albeit at a much slower pace. This slower pace allowed the other clone to use "Water Release: Water Whip!" The whip of water was barely able to wrap itself around Lee's already damaged leg and once more brought the Leaf nin tumbling to the ground. Lee whimpered in pain as he turned towards the whip holding clone and his eyes widened as he saw Yang next to the clone.

With her gloves sparkling Yang said "I really wish I didn't have to do this Blakey." Clearly uncomfortable, but seeing no choice Yang took hold of a part of the whip. Lee gave a yell as he once more felt volts pulse through him and this time couldn't fight the enticing draw of unconsciousness. As the clone of Blake popped next to Yang, the blonde held back a shudder.

The remaining clone walked up to the blonde, putting a hand on her shoulder "I'll make sure he's not going anywhere."

Yang nodded and composed herself "How are the others?"

**(Pyrrha's Fight)**

The redhead was in a bit of a situation. Pyrrha was locked in a stalemate with the Hyuga clansman, and she couldn't see a way to end it.

At the beginning of their fight Neji had clearly underestimated her and how capable she was with her spear, this was clearly evident by the few bleeding cuts the boy now had. If the small wounds had any impact on the Hyuga he was doing a great job hiding it and the second he activated his doujutsu Pyrrha had been incapable of even getting close to the boy. His damn rotations stopped every thrust or swipe she attempted, but thanks to the distance her spear brought Neji's strikes couldn't reach her as well.

Pyrrha was very thankful for that, having allowed a few jabs slip through when she earlier attempted a jutsu. The girl could still feel the impacts as if they had just been delivered, forcing Pyrrha to marvel at the Hyuga style having never felt a pain like that before.

This led them to where they were now, Pyrrha staying out of his reach and strikes, but unable to fight back. Any projectiles were swept away as if they were nothing and there was no way Pyrrha was going to attempt another jutsu. There was a chance of her outlasting the Hyuga, the girl knowing how draining doujutsu can be on someone, although it was obvious Neji was no novice.

Blake was sat in a tree nearby waiting for some kind of opening. From watching the fray the faunus knew any type of assault with projectiles would have no effect as long as his doujutsu was activated. Blake knew that rushing in with her sword would just make her become an instant casualty. The usually cool girl was starting to get frustrated with her not being able to make a plan, her teammate was facing a dangerous opponent and it was probably blind luck the Byakugan hadn't picked up Blake's presence.

"Blakey." Yang's hushed voice called, startling the girl in mention. Blake turned to see the blonde in a tree branch opposite to her looking at her with a relieved look. "You have no idea how good it is to see you."

Blake smiled at the caring tone and answered "Likewise blondie, but we're not out of this yet. That Hyuga is a problem and Pyrrha is barely hanging on, but now that you're here I have an idea that could work."

Pyrrha was backpedaling as the Hyuga was reeling towards her, hands ready at his sides. The redhead was gauging when the optimal time to jump out of the way would be when she saw Blake run out of the woods behind Neji.

"Pyrrha make a wall!" The faunus commanded.

Trusting her teammate, Pyrrha made the necessary hand redhead slammed her palms into the ground forcing an earth wall to rise separating her and the Hyuga. With his assault being stopped, Neji turned with his back to the wall facing Blake. Wasting no time Blake herself threw a volley of shuriken at the Hyuga, yelling along "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

The Hyuga had a bit more difficult deflecting these weapons with their speed boost, but was still able to nonetheless. As he redirected the barrage, the boy heard a distinct crackling sound. Neji turned just in time to see Yang vaulting the wall gloves erupting in energy. Yang's fist struck the ground hard as the boy barely managed to roll out of the way, right into Blake's crosshairs.

"Wind Release: Air Bullet!" The drilling wind nailed Neji right in the chest forcing him onto his back. Apart from the girls heavy breathing, the forest was quiet for a moment. The girls began to relax thinking they had won, but those thoughts vanished as a bleeding Hyuga stood back up. The girls moved to stand together all ready to act at the slightest movement from the boy, but were confused as he just stood there staring. What was even more confusing was that he seemed to be looking behind them, but none of the girls dared take their eyes off the boy to see what he appeared to be gazing act.

However, they couldn't help but jump as a very deep voice bellowed "Such Youth! Such Teamwork! I am awed to be a witness to this!"

The Tensai turned themselves around, to see what looked like a much older version of the speed freak they had faced earlier. The physically imposing man had the unconscious forms of Lee and Tenten draped over each of his shoulders.

"Perfect timing Gai Sensei." Neji said, sounding as if victory for him was now inescapable.

Gai nodded "Yes Neji, I believe it is time we take our leave."

The girls finally saw the stoic Hyuga's face change. He now bore a look of utter disbelief "But the mission-"

The boy was cut off as his seemingly kind mentor spoke quite harshly "The day is theirs Neji! They could have killed your teammates, but instead they chose to subdue them. Consider yourself lucky I don't make you thank them for sparing you and your comrades."

For a moment the Hyuga's face morphed into one of anger and then shame, yet that only lasted a short instance and the stoic Hyuga was back once more.

As they were leaving Gai gave the Tensai a sincere smile, while Neji didn't give them another glance. "We shall leave your borders at once." Gai promised as the Leaf nin disappeared back into the tree line.

"How long do you think he was there?" Pyrrha asked as the girls stayed ready for action in case this turned out to be some type of trap.

"Honestly," Blake began "I think he was there the whole time."

"Do you think everyone in Leaf is a freak?" Yang blatantly asked, convinced that the danger was gone. As the blonde turned to Blake she gasped "Blake! You're shoulder!"

The faunus looked down and cursed slightly. She had wrapped the grazes she received earlier from her fight with Tenten, but it seems during the scuffle with Neji the wound reopened. "It's just a scratch." Blake said, not believing the wound to be serious.

"Scratches don't gush blood." Yang responded quite adamantly. Gently grabbing Blake's arm and inspecting the injury, despite the protests from the faunus.

Blake sighed and tried to make a compromise "Yang I promise that after we get back to the village and report to Ozpin you can change my bandage yourself."

Yang smiled in return, quite pleased with that idea. The Tensai began to tree hop through the woods once more, although at a much slower pace.

The girls were moving in silence until Pyrrha decided to say "So you two are gonna play doctor, huh?" This led to the blushing of the other two members of Team Tensai.

**(Four Hours Later, Vale Donkage's Tower)**

Ozpin's eyebrow raised as his team of Tensai approached the administration desk with a large basket in hand. What made him pause were the bruises covering Yang and Pyrrha, the bloodied bandage on Blake's shoulder, and the overall weariness of the group.

"I see it didn't go as planned." Ozpin mused as a chunin took the captive away from the bedraggled girls.

With a sigh Blake answered "Not exactly."

As the girls began their verbal report Ozpin seemed to take it all in stride silently sipping from his mug, but once they mentioned the attack of the Leaf he tensed slightly. Although his apprehension disappeared once they mentioned the jounin leader of the team they fought.

With a chuckle Ozpin responded "It appears you got to meet the Beast of Konoha on your first mission."

"You know him?" A shocked Yang asked.

"He's got a bit of a reputation." Their Donkage answered with a shrug "Ask your parents, I'm sure they'll love to tell you about him. Now considering you faced foreign ninja in a difficult battle, I'm bumping this mission up to B Rank."

"So that means B Rank pay?" A quite hopeful blonde asked.

"Yes Miss Long," Ozpin answered "I also believe a day of rest is in order for you there. I have another interesting mission I'm sure you'll enjoy when you get back."

Pyrrha was a bit surprised, and rose her voice a little to be heard over Yang's cheering "It can wait that long?"

"It's not an urgent mission, but an important one none the less." Their leader answered as a chunin brought the Tensai their reward "If that's all I wish you three a good day."

The girls exited the tower feeling quite a deal richer, in both a literal sense and satisfaction wise, after completing their first mission. Seeing that it was just after four, the girls began to say their goodbyes to each other.

"I'll see you two tomorrow," Pyrrha said as she walked away "my father is introducing me too some secret training."

"It won't be a secret for long!" Yang yelled at the redhead leaving the girl's view, the blonde then turned to her other teammate "Doesn't she know you're supposed to be the mysterious one?"

Blake shook her head with a grin "She'll catch on soon enough I imagine. See you tomorrow Yang."

The faunus didn't manage two feet when a forceful yet still somehow gentle hand grabbed her uninjured shoulder "Not happening Blakey." Yang informed Blake as she moved her hold to the girl's hand, now leading the girl through the streets. "I know just the way to make my Blakey feel better."

A blushing Blake was quickly pulled through the streets, and before she knew it they were in front of the Long Clan compound. Blake had expected to be brought to the main giant house, but was proven wrong when Yang instead brought her to a small building by one of the ground's ponds.

Yang finally let go of her teammates hands and slowly slid open the ornate wooden door. As the door opened it revealed Yang's uncle Qrow. The dark haired man was kneeling in front of a small altar lighting several sticks of incense. Even with his eyes closed the man was able to identify who had entered the room.

"Good afternoon Yang, and an honor to meet you Miss Belladonna." The man's kind voice filled the room, making Yang smile.

"Honor?" A confused Blake said out loud. She was in the presence of one of the strongest and most reknown shinobi in the village, and he was honored to be meeting _her_!

Qrow cracked open an eye with a smile grin "Yes," he answered "anyone who can control my niece must be quite remarkable."

Blake blushed at the praise, as Yang uttered a "Hey!" in defence of herself. The two dark haired shinobi ignored the blonde as Blake responded "Thank you Long-Sama."

"Please Blake, this isn't one of those boring meetings. Here I'm just Qrow." The man informed the girl, before turning to his fiery niece "Not that I don't enjoy your company, but I must ask why you've come?"

Yang pulled Blake over to her uncle and gestured towards her shoulder "We ran into a little trouble on our mission."

"Oh?" Qrow inquired as he expertly unwrapped the bandage, revealing the still slightly bleeding cuts. "Fairly shallow." The man commented before forming a hand seal. Blake was about to ask what he intended to do, but once she noticed his green glowing hands understood immediately.

As Qrow's hands repaired the damage he asked "I assume the mission was an exciting one?"

Yang answered for the pair "Oh you know just ferocious Grimm, battling foreign doujutsu, and encountering enemy jounin."

Qrow paused for a moment, then began again with a weary sigh "Do you know what you've done?"

Blake was silent once more slightly hesitant to hear the man's answer as Yang meekly replied "Almost start an international incident?"

"No, you've just succeeded in making your father wildly jealous." With his annoyed tone the tension in the room dispersed "We're in luck he decided to take Ruby on a Beowulf hunt today. Do you know his first mission was pulling weeds?"

"He told me it was stopping an assassination!" Yang exclaimed in return.

"No my dear that was me." Ozpin answered "And it was hardly an assassination, just some drunk fool trying to kill a rival merchant."

Yang nodded as if everything was finally making sense "The part about the beautiful princess begging for his hand in marriage did seem to come out of nowhere."

"Half his tales do." Was Qrow's response.

Blake couldn't help but giggle at the interaction between the family members, silently wishing she could be more apart of it. The faunus doubted she would ever share a bond with someone as these two do. Yes, there was her mother, but they had never spoken to each other like the two Long relatives had just done so easily. Then again in the short time she had been associating with Yang and Pyrrha, the girl had never been more content and _happy_.

The Tensai was brought out of her musing by Qrow declaring "All done." Blake looked down to see that the skin on her shoulder was back, slightly more pink than before, but from what she knew about medical ninjutsu that was only temporary.

"Thank you… Qrow." Blake said sincerely, even though she still felt a bit odd addressing the man she had just met so casually.

"Anytime my dear, although I hope to not have to do it often." Qrow responded as he began to leave the shrine. "Ah, Yang I believe dinner will be ready in about ten minutes or so."

"Perfect!" The blonde declared turning to her teammate "You wanna join us?"

Looking at the hope in Yang's eyes Blake so badly wanted to shout yes, but the faunus just couldn't bring herself to do it. "I'm sorry," Blake began, feeling a pain in her chest when seeing the mirth leave the blonde's face "my mother expects me to be home soon."

"Oh." Was all Yang offered as her eyes fell and posture became crestfallen.

Blake felt a sudden need to comfort the girl in front of her "Hey," the faunus said with a smile catching the attention of Yang once more "I will be seeing you tomorrow blondie."

The blonde grew a grin at that and captured the faunus in a bear hug. "Sounds good Blakey." Pushing her desperate need for air aside, Blake returned the hug and blushed when she felt the other girl's grin widen.

An instant later Blake backed out of the embrace and stuttered "Later!"

Before the blonde could respond, Blake was already running home, ignoring the protests from her already exhausted muscles. She rushed into her house and slammed the door behind her, breathing heavily as she lay against it.

'_Dammit!'_ Blake thought '_Why did I have to lie!'_ It's true Blake's mother would be expecting her, but not until much later in the evening. The faunus berated herself for leaving her teammate, until she found an answer for her cowardness. "Oh, that's right." Blake said to the empty house. "My profound anti socialness and crippling anxiety."

The shinobi sighed as she slid down the frame of the door "Being an introvert sucks sometimes."

* * *

><p><strong>Well there you go guys Chapter There is complete! I hope you all enjoyed the fight scenes, I must admit they were not easy to write. I blame it on Lee and Neji being such badasses, but it's most likely because I haven't written fight scenes in a <strong>_**long **_**time. I hope to have the next chapter up within a week and am planning to release another Bumblebee oneshot sometime soon. Because let's face it, you can never have enough of the Bees.**

**Before I leave you I thought of something interesting to ask. I'm sure many of you reading this are part of the wonderful community of authors this awesome site has, and I have a question for you. I always find myself listening to music as I write, and for some reason 80s music really motivates me to keep at it. So if you'd like it be cool if you left a review saying whether or not you do listen to music while you write and if so what kind. **

**Thanks again for taking the time to read this.**

**Until Next Time**


	4. Chapter 4

**(Vale Central Park, Early Morning)**

Blake walked through the small almost hidden like path with no need to rush. Morning was just beginning to show, as the sun began to rise and take it's place in the sky. She breathed in deep the scent of the tall trees surrounding her and took a moment to listen to the bird's chirp.

With her eyes closed, Blake continued to walk the very familiar dark road. It was a ritual of hers to walk this path at least once a week. She sometimes came at night to bask in the silence of nature falling asleep, but the girl had recently found that she enjoyed listening to nature wake up much more.

As she continued the path started to widen where a large section of engraved marble occupied a small grass area off the road. The statue was more than familiar to her, it was the reason she had originally began to walk this route. It's dark smooth exterior was covered in the engravings of hundreds. This was Vale's memorial to those shinobi who had fallen on a mission.

This place was actually one of Blake's first memories. As a young child, before she could walk, her mother would carry her along this path. She'd never speak a word to her, even when Blake gathered the courage to try and start a conversation. Her mother would just silently hold her, standing vigil in front of the stone for a few minutes, and then continue on like it had never happened. A part of Blake reasoned that she continued the tradition because she so desperately wants to share moments like that with her mother again, but no there was a far more important meaning to her weekly walk.

Today's walk was different in the fact that she was not alone. As she happened upon the stone there was a figure kneeling before it. The person was draped in a long red cape that billowed around her to the grass floor. Blake was about to greet the person, but stopped when she heard the person trying to control their sobs. The faunus was unsure of what to do when she heard the young female voice.

"Hey mom." Blake's heart broke, listening to the young girl's sobbing grow steadily louder "Sorry, I haven't been able to visit recently, a lot has been going on."

To Blake there was something peculiar about that voice, the girl was certain she hadn't heard it before, but there was some sense of familiarity in it.

"I think Dad's finally starting to get better. You know he's still a goofball like always, but I think he was just using that to hide how much he was hurt. There are still times where I just find him standing there, staring off into nothing. Honestly, I think some part of him is still trying to find you, still expecting you to walk through that door again."

Blake bit her lip as the young girl started to shake.

"I miss you." Blake didn't need to see her face to know that the dam had broken and tears were freely flowing. "I can't blame Dad, there have been so many times where I just forget you're gone. My head just convinces me that when I get home you'll be there cooking dinner for me and asking me how my day was. My friend tells me sometimes that I should just grow up and get over it, but I don't want to. I'm afraid that I'll end up forgetting you. That maybe one day I won't remember what your face looks like or how warm and inviting your voice sounded when you called to me."

The Tensai felt herself shrinking back, feeling terrible for listening to younger girl when she's so vulnerable.

"Yang's a Tensai." That made Blake stop "That's good news I suppose, and don't get me wrong I know I should be happy for her and trust me I am!" The girl paused a moment taking a deep breath. "There's just some terrible feeling in me that I'm going to lose her too. After you, Dad just kinda shut down, he's only recently gotten back on his feet. Qrow was gone on that long term mission for years and the rest of the clan were too busy in mourning to notice me. All I had was Yang. She's the one who held me every night when I cried myself to sleep, who made me eat when I didn't want to, who went to such major efforts just to put a smile on my face."

Blake felt a tear slide down her face at the confession. Her respect for the blonde had just shot to unimaginable heights, but the concern for the girl in front of her grew as well.

"I can't lose her too, but there's nothing I can do to stop it. She hasn't even been an official ninja for a week and I can already feel her beginning to slip away. If she leaves me too I don't know wha-"

The girl couldn't finish, having completely broken down in a fit of tears. Blake knew she had to do something to help the girl, she wanted to do something. This was her teammates younger sister and while she had only known Yang for a few days, Blake wanted to be there for one of her first true friends. Although, that wasn't Blake's only reason, she wasn't just doing it for Yang. The girl in front of her was a mess, and while the faunus may be inexperienced socially, she couldn't just leave her.

With a deep breath Blake stepped next to the girl in red.

"My father is on this stone as well."

The sudden cool voice surprised Ruby, and Blake had to force herself to keep a straight face when the girl's grieving tear smudged face looked up at her. The faunus didn't give the girl a chance to say anything.

"My mother was seven months pregnant with me when the Donkage told her. He had been taken prisoner by Iwa on a long mission. We tried to negotiate for his release, but they just laughed at our efforts." Blake was quiet for a few seconds, and Ruby thought she saw her face falter slightly. With a sigh Blake continued "We were never able to get the body back."

Ruby looked back at the stone, the tears starting to come back "What's next? Are you going to say you understand what I'm going through?"

"No." Blake answered simply "I have no earthly idea what you've been through. I didn't grow up with my father, even if I had I doubt I'd be able to say I could understand you. However, I don't think you realize how lucky you are."

Seeing the outrage on Ruby's face Blake continued "Like your father, my mother was broken by the loss. While you've had your moments with your father, their not enough for any child. What you did and still have though is a sister who would run from here to Konoha then back again just to put a smile on your face. You know what she said in the first hour we became genin? Yang said she was worried that the two of you were going to grow apart."

The redhead looked back up to see Blake now staring back at her "That's when Yang decided that you two would never grow apart. Ruby you're sister is an amazing person and I would have killed to have grown up with her as my sibling." Tears had stopped flowing as Blake placed her hand on the girl's shoulder comfortingly "She'll never leave you Ruby."

"What if something happens to her on a mission?" The girl's voice was grave and full of fear.

"I won't let that happen." Blake's answer was simple, but the sureness in her voice almost convinced Ruby.

Before Blake knew what was happening the surprisingly fast girl had her arms wrapped around her and was crying into Blake's shoulder. The faunus was surprised, but slowly began to rub her hands on the girl's back. Blake sunk to her knees and allowed the girl to pretty much fall into the faunus' embrace, continuing to empty her supply of tears.

Blake wasn't sure how long she sat in the grass with Ruby wrapped around her, she just knew that it was long enough for the sun to fully come up and greet the world. The younger girl had stopped crying and now leaned up. "I'm glad you're my sister's teammate."

Blake froze as Ruby once again wrapped her arms around the older girl, whispering into her ear "Thank you Blake."

With that Ruby rose up and with a grief free face gave Blake a genuine smile. The faunus watched the girl in red walk down the path, soon disappearing from sight.

Blake turned her head back to the memorial stone "So Dad, how are you?"

**(Two Hours Later Training Ground 17)**

Blake was unsure about what to do with the blonde she was currently standing in front of a large tree with. The faunus had expected to immediately be drawn into a conversation about the events she had been apart of earlier with the younger Long, but instead the moment she stepped foot onto the grounds she had been whisked away to the wooded area.

Blake noticed that there was quite a bit of rope wrapped the trunk of the tree, and a bit of bottled water and food laying around the base. What made her jaw drop slightly was the blindfold laying there.

Yang merely put a finger to the confused girl's lips and said "Shhhh, we'll make her squeal."

"Yang." Blake began "What in the actual fuck is happening?"

The blonde giggled "Ha, knew I'd get you to drop the F-bomb!"

"Is that what all this is for?" The still very confused faunus asked.

"Nope," Yang answered with a determined look and closed fist "we're going to make Pyrrha squeal about her secret training."

The look of utter disbelief Blake gave Yang caused the blonde to ask "What? Do you have a better idea?"

Pyrrha took that moment to approach the girls, smiling and offering a small wave "Heya."

Blake turned her head to the redhead and kindly asked "Pyrrha, would you mind filling us in on your secret training?"

The girl gave a simple "Sure." in return.

From the look Blake gave her Yang let out a nervous chuckle "I suppose that work's just as well."

The blonde pouted when Blake ignored her and a slightly confused Pyrrha just began explaining "It's probably just better if I show you."

Both girls eyes widened as Pyrrha bit her thumb, causing a bit of blood to roll down her hand. Dropping to her knees Pyrrha carefully formed five hand seals, before smacking her hands to the forest floor.

Their vision was impaired momentarily by the small cloud that erupted after the contact, but the eruption of the smoke was quickly drowned out by small cries. Not warning cries or battles cries, it was the cry of a small child.

Blake expected to see an infant when the smoke cleared, what she did see made her skin crawl. Wrapped in Pyrrha's arms was a small white pup, so young that it wasn't even able to open it's eyes yet.

"Puppy!" Yang exclaimed immediately at Pyrrha's side desperately wanting to hold the canine.

Pyrrha laughed saying "It's actually a wolf." That didn't seem to matter to Yang who was now holding the wolf and cradling it to her chest.

"He's so fluffy!" The blonde yelled "Blake you have to hold it!"

That's when the other two girls noticed that their faunus comrade was now residing in the highest branch of the tree.

"I'll pass." Blake yelled back down.

This brought Yang to laugh herself to tears "Of course! The kitty doesn't like dogs!"

"That's the second Long I've been able to make cry today." Blake murmured to herself, not quite sure how to feel about the achievement.

A poof of smoke later leading to a very disapointed Yang and a very relieved Blake, led to them all being on the ground once more.

"So your clan can summon wolves." Blake said.

"Yep," Pyrrha answered "I've been practicing the last few days, but so far I can only summon the pups."

Blake smiled as she pulled out two identical scrolls, offering one to each of her teammates. "This should help your progress." As they both took them Blake added "It's about time you learn how to make Shadow Clones."

As Blake said that Yang greedily ripped her scroll open, her eyes pouring over the contents. Before Pyrrha had a chance to open hers, a cough interrupted the three girls.

Surprised they looked to their side and noticed one of Vale's Anbu waiting for them. They were able to identify them as one by the regulation Grimm mask adorned on his face. Like other Hidden Village's the identity of the Anbu was unknown to all but a select few.

Having gotten the Tensai's attention the emotionless voice behind the mask said "The Donkage has requested your presence for a clan meeting."

"A clan meeting!" A shocked Pyrrha clarified, while it wasn't entirely uncommon for the heirs to be invited to a meeting of the village heads, they were always prepared days in advance.

As the lethal shinobi nodded their head Blake asked "When?"

"It's set to schedule in ten minutes." With that the Anbu disappeared in Vale's shunshin technique, the body flicker leaving behind particles of dust.

There was a moment of silence between the three before they all ran full speed towards the city center, with Yang shouting a very sarcastic "Thanks for the spectacular warning in advance!"

The silence of their sprinting was then broken by Pyrrha "So should I ask about the blindfold?"

**(Hokage Tower)**

As the girls jumped through the main doors of the building a male voice called to them "Ah, there you are!"

Looking up they saw both the Long clan head and Nikos clan head walking towards them. Each man was dressed in a cape, as is custom for all clan heads when attending a meeting, and both wore large grins upon seeing their daughters.

"You there are quite good at making an entrance." Pyrrha's father, Marik, said in his blood red cape.

"They have a sense for being late." Taiyang in his yellow cape told his friend with a playful smirk.

"Ha," Yang laughed at her father "wonder where I got that from?"

"Definitely not your uncle." A cool voice said from behind the group. They all turned to see Qrow giving them a friendly wave as he strode out of the building.

"I'll never get used to how easily he can sneak up on us." Marik murmured to Taiyang, who nodded in return knowing full well just how sneaky his twin can be. He had quite a few memories of how Qrow would use his stealth in their childhood, proving it quite difficult to hide anything from his brother. Taiyang actually cringed a bit recalling some of the more awkward things his damn snooping brother had uncovered.

Yang brought her father out of his uncomfortable trip down memory lane by asking "Qrow isn't coming to this meeting?"

Taiyang shook his head "Ozpin has him assigned for something." The blonde peeked at the clock on the wall adding "Speaking of the strongest ninja in the village, it's best not to keep him waiting."

Marik nodded then directed his words to Blake "Your mother is already at her seat."

The faunus nodded politely and left for the descending stairs, which led to the underground level, both her teammates following her.

As the male clan heads watch them leave, Marik said to his friend "I'm still not quite sure what to think of her."

"Yang speaks highly of her." Taiyang responded, having had his own thoughts about his daughter's teammate.

"As does Pyrrha," Marik agreed "I suppose we'll just have to trust our children on this one."

Not wanting to end the discussion just yet, Taiyang admitted "I hope she doesn't turn out like her mother, I'd rather my daughter not go through that."

The other clan head nodded "That would be unfortunate, but I don't believe she will."

As Marik began walking after their children, Taiyang asked him "What do you believe?"

"Perhaps she'll surprise us." Taiyang laughed at his friends response, but couldn't bring himself to believe it.

**(Clan Head Meeting Room)**

The large room was simple yet elegant in a way. There were nine large desks all assembled in a way so they were facing one another. In front of each desk was the name of the Clan written in Kanji, the only difference was the slightly larger ninth desk with the Kanji for Donkage written on it. Ozpin sat at this desk, for once without his cup of coffee. The man was never seen with the drink during clan meetings, although many believed the man in robes secretly chews coffee grinds to get his caffeine kick.

On either side of the Kage sat his advisors and once teammates. To his right sat Glynda Goodwitch, the woman appeared charming and regal, yet had a reputation of being quite callous. The large man to Ozpin's left is James Ironwood, no doubt one of the village's strongest having proven his worth many times over. It was actually quite a controversial topic when Ozpin was chosen over Ironwood to be Kage, while the two have always been known to be great friends the race for the position drove them apart. While his loyalty to Ozpin has been questioned, no one would dare question his devotion to Vale.

The desk next to them was occupied by Taiyang Long and his daughter. The usual humor seen in the good natured man was gone and the expressionless face of a politician had taken over. Many had believed that it was foolish for Taiyang to sit as clan head over Qrow, however the blonde had readily proved them wrong in several ways.

At the next desk is the Ren Clan, the clan head being Lie Roe. While Roe was the second oldest of all the clan heads even though he appeared to be the youngest of them all, much to the chagrin of the others. He was adorned in a green cape and his hair contained the pink highlights all members of the Lie clan had.

Than there was the Lie's greatest ally, the Valkyrie Clan, led by one Sora Valkyrie. Much like her daughter, Sora was the epitome of cheer and happiness. However, despite her bubbly personality, there was no clan head more feared than her. She has actually inspired many enemy shinobi to develop mental diseases, upon hearing her laughter in combat. Sora's orange hair matched well with her pink cape.

Next in line was the oldest and leader of the largest clan in Vale, Frost Schnee. The white cape he wore perfectly matched his personality. A man generally perceived to be cold and uncaring, it is hard to defend him, but Vale would not be where it is today financially without this man. Some may view the wrinkles beginning to show on his face as a sign of weakness, and that is exactly what he would want them to think.

Sitting in the desk next to Schnee was Leora Belladonna and Blake. Leora had never been one to seek out the other clan heads for anything, instead she waited for them to seek her out. The Belladonna Clan being the village's main source of all matters concerning fuinjutsu brought them quite a bit of importance, and Leora used this to her advantage often. This uncaring attitude brought her the ire of many, however it didn't seem to affect the faunus in the black cape.

Marik and Pyrrha Nikos were at the next table. The Nikos clan is actually the oldest one that has resided in Vale, being traced all the way back to the founding of the village. The redhead clan have always been known as natural leaders, and that was a clear trait in the two sitting there.

Finally there sat the newest addition to Vale, the Arc Clan. Jules Arc was a middle aged blonde man, who seemed a bit too naive to for this line of work, however having a seat in this room clearly shows he is capable. His blue cape seemed a tad too large for the blonde's lean frame.

"Welcome everyone." Ozpin addressed the already silent group "We've few issue to discuss today, but I assure you they are important enough to deem a meeting."

"I assume you're referring to the incident with Leaf?" Frost asked before anyone else could.

"It would be good to bring up." Ozpin nodded.

"How have they reacted to the skirmish?" The always polite Roe asked.

Ozpin looked to Glynda who answered "They have sent no official document to us regarding it, however our sources report that the Hyuga are displeased."

Taiyang scoffed and said "Does anything ever please those fools?"

Ignoring his friend's remark Marik asked "Do we know if the Hyuga boy was part of the main branch?"

"Our sources haven't been able to confirm." Glynda answered.

"I believe our Tensai could." Ozpin offered, immediately directing every head's attention to the young girls in the room. Ozpin then asked them "Tell me did you see the Caged Bird Seal on the boy?"

Pyrrha and Yang did their best to hide their utter confusion having no idea what their leader was asking them, however being a Belladonna, Blake knew what Ozpin was addressing "We weren't able to tell." Blake answered "His headband covered his forehead."

"That about guarantees him being a branch member." Jules pointed out.

"True," Leora agreed "but why would the Hyuga be so upset about a branch member being in danger?"

"His sensei is Mighty Guy, that's not someone Leaf would have teaching an ordinary shinobi." Roe suggested then turned to Sora "I believe the two of you are acquainted?"

The devilish chuckle that escaped the woman's mouth seemed to lower the rooms temperature as she responded "Oh, I'm sure he remembers our last scuffle."

"Branch member or no we'll continue to monitor the situation in Leaf." Ozpin announced ending that discussion. "Now onto the main reason you have been called here. There is a potential opportunity to be had, there are risks but the rewards may be more than worth it."

Having gotten everyone's attention Ozpin turned to Ironwood "James, inform the group about the situation in the Land of Waves."

**Heya everyone, sorry this took longer than usual to come out. It seems I have a project to do in every course I'm taking. Enough about terrible school, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Favorites, reviews, and all that good stuff are always inspiring! Thanks again!**

**Until Next Time**


	5. Chapter 5

"Waves?" A doubtful Taiyang asked "What could we gain from the islanders?"

"More than you'd expect." Ironwood began "As I'm sure you all know, the Land of Waves is a large island south of Konoha territory. The total population is somewhere around 8,000 which is dispersed through villages of varying sizes. While they don't ship much out, nearly all shipping lanes in that area are forced to pass through that island."

"Meaning they get to tax the hell out of any merchants trying to trade." Jules pointed out.

"Correct, the potential revenue is never clear, but always guaranteed to be high." The largest leader of finances, Frost, stated.

"If they charge so high why don't merchants just avoid stopping there?" Yang asked out loud, before she was able to stop herself.

Leora scoffed at the young girl, which caused an unexpected source of anger from her daughter in response. The room didn't notice Blake's fists turn white as she clenched them tightly.

Roe answered the girl after a moment "The sea in the South is known for being unruly and sinking many ships. The area around Waves is considered even more dangerous to sail in, making the island nation a haven for ships to restock and rest."

Yang nodded at the explanation and the conversation quickly continued with Marik asking the Donkage "So you believe we can take advantage of this somehow?"

"Well before we can take advantage of it we must deal with those already doing just that." Ozpin responded "The nation has basically been taken hostage by one of the world's richest businessman, Gato."

"That man is a fiend, I once had the displeasure of encountering one of his _operations _during a mission." Leora added with disdain clear in her voice "You can call him a businessman if you consider drug dealing and illegal smuggling business."

"My thoughts exactly." Ironwood agreed "That wretched man has Waves in a chokehold right now. With an army of thugs he has successfully taken over the island and put all of it's occupants under his rule. Any ships who wish to dock there are being charged with three times that of the original high tax, and if they don't pay he simply plunders the vessel."

"That would explain the considerable drop in trade coming from the island itself recently." Frost pondered, understanding the situation perfectly.

Sora, however, was slightly confused "Wait if it's had such a large effect, why hasn't a closer shinobi village dealt with the problem."

"Well the closest ones would be Leaf and Mist." Taiyang stated "Konoha has been having seriously high tensions with Iwa lately, and Kiri is still wrapped up in that pointless internal conflict."

Wishing to gain more insight on the situation in the island, Marik asked "How have the people been affected?"

Ozpin sighed and answered "The few reports we've gathered from the area say that the poverty level is the lowest the region has ever seen. Gato has taken everything from the people, leaving them with nothing."

"So you wish us to liberate the area, than what?" Sora asked "Take over ourselves?"

"No." Ozpin simply answered "We'll free the people and give them a generous offer regarding our services, the details of which I assure you will be most influential to our village and their nation. However, before we get into the fine points of that negotiation, I would like to bring into attention why I've requested the Tensai be present."

At the mention of their names the girls tensed, and if one looked closely so did their parents, yes even Leora reacted slightly. "Gato has been known for hiring low level missing-nin as part of his private army, ramping up the difficulty of this task." Ozpin continued "I believe sending the new Tensai as a recon team with our proposal for the people of Wave will work nicely. Thoughts?"

While the Kage asked for the groups opinion on the matter, they knew better than to voice theirs. While Ozpin would no doubt listen to them and take into consideration their words greatly, they all knew that he would have never mentioned it if he had not already made up his mind.

The Donkage smiled at the silence in the room "Then let us draw up the proposal we'll have our young heirs deliver."

**(Two Days Later, Southern Konoha)**

Blake, Yang, and Pyrrha strode through a forest, walking on a wide path. Once the meeting had been over they were sent to leave that night and get there as soon as possible. That meant moving through Leaf territory, whom they aren't enemies with, but the girls had hidden their headbands just to be safe.

They had spent the majority of their trip tree hopping, but decided to not overexert themselves and just walk for a time. Looking at how the forest was starting to slowly thin out as they neared the coast, it was doubtful they'd be able to tree hop much longer if they wanted to.

Each girl wore a large pack on their shoulders containing miscellaneous supplies a long journey would require. While the trek wasn't exactly long, following their mission parameters could have them in the Land of Waves for quite a while. They had been instructed to deliver the proposal to the leader of the civilians in Wave and then assess the current strength of Gato's presence. If there were no major threats the Tensai were to deal with the thugs, and if there were missing nin of high caliber they were to leave.

"I really need to step up my endurance training." Yang complained as she breathed heavily under the weight of her pack. Both other girls raised their eyes at that, not expecting their taijutsu expert to be tired from travel when they felt fine.

Blake had an idea and asked "How much do your weights weigh right now?"

Instead of just telling the faunus, Yang reached over to the weight seal on Blake's wrist and pushed some chakra into it. The added weight made Blake yelp and fall to her knees trying to keep her hand from slamming into the ground. The blonde was immediately by her side while Blake yelled "For the love of Kami! This is probably five times the weight I use!"

"Sorry!" Yang pleaded, as Blake was able to set her seals back to their original weight.

Yang picked up Blake's discarded pack as the faunus stood back up and said "Do you even have anything in this bag? It's like a feather."

Blake smirked and took the bag "Belladonna heir, remember? We seal things. I just needed a larger container for my scrolls."

"You wouldn't happen to have any extra scrolls, would you?" Yang said with her best innocent voice.

"For all your clothes? Nope." Blake answered as she turned away from the blonde.

"Hey!" The blonde retorted "A ninja's attire is vital!"

"True," Pyrrha agreed as the group began walking again "but most ninja don't wear tube tops."

The faunus was glad she was currently leading the group, her back blocking the others from seeing the blush on her face. An image of Yang in an even tighter top than what she normally wears was fighting to gain dominance in Blake's mind. A moment of silence fell over the group as they continued their stride, well silence aside from Yang muttering the practical uses of tank tops.

Yang was brought out of her mutterings when Blake stopped in front of her, almost making the blonde run into her back. "What's the hold up Blakey?"

The faunus stared at the road ahead of them and asked "Do you remember when it last rained?"

"Not since we've been here." Pyrrha answered and was about to ask why when her eyes followed Blake's gaze and saw the large puddle on the road.

The trio watched the water for a moment, when Yang felt a sudden burst of chakra causing her to yell "Drop your weights!"

The girls complied and just in time as two figures garbed in cloaks erupted from the water to begin sprinting towards the girls. They each dashed to a separate side of the path with some sort of chain connecting the two, an instant later they were sprinting towards the Tensai. Being closer to the sides Yang and Pyrrha were able to just roll off the path away from the oncoming rush. However, Blake being in the middle didn't have time to follow her teammates and instead had to jump over the chain as it ran towards her.

As Blake jumped above the chain, she looked at it and was immediately glad she had managed to get out if it's way. The chain seemed to be made out of some sort of modified shuriken, where each blade was twice the normal size. She observed that each end seemed to be connected to a large metal gauntlet each figure wore. Blake also noticed several claws on the metal gloves.

When Blake landed behind the pair she noticed the peculiar attachments to their headbands. One had a large horn sticking straight from the middle of his Kiri headband, while the other had two smaller horns sticking out from either side of his headband. Blake's eyes narrowed when she saw the slashes through their village's symbol, identifying them as missing-nin. She couldn't observe long when moments after she landed both men turned and flung shuriken at her with their free hands. Blake cursed as she was forced to kawarimi with a log from the tree line.

As the smoke cleared the two men saw the log they had just impaled and paid attention to the two other girls. With a tug at his gauntlet and a pulse of chakra the man with one horn on his headband disconnected the chain from his armament, leaving his partner with it. The man with one horn turned to the side of the path and charged at the recovering Pyrrha. He thought the girl was disoriented as he rushed her, but unbeknownst to him she was just activating the seal on her glove.

The missing nin didn't expect the girl to pull a spear from her palm, and certainly didn't expect her to immediately thrust at him. Shifting his body to the side the man only received a graze from the spear which seemed to have no problem slicing through his thin leather armor. He gritted his teeth as his side was slashed, however was able to use this new position and his tall frame to his benefit. The man reached out with his clawed glove and was in range to swipe at the girls head. Pyrrha ducked under the blow and jumped back to dodge a kick from the man.

The man growled at the girl as he felt the blood pour down his side and spoke with a harsh warning voice "You've made this much worse for yourself."

"Continue your attack and you'll be doing just that for yourself." Pyrrha taunted back as she moved in for another thrust.

On the other side of the path Yang was forced to stop her charge and jump when the other man swung the chain at her like a whip. The blonde snarled when she heard the man laugh and began flicking his wrist again. Much like his comrade the two horned man was shocked when the girl dropped to her knees and with her metal gloves caught the chain. His mouth even dropped when she smirked and her hand bursted into a ball of sparks, which quickly traveled to him through his weapon.

Yang's smile fell when the electricity met his glove and seemingly did nothing. '_Damn the inner lining of his glove must be something nonconductive!' _Yang turned her frustration back to anger and pulled on the chain. Still a little dazed from the light show the man was completely caught off guard by the girl's overwhelming strength and was pulled straight into her cocked back fist. Her first met with his face with a satisfying crunch that flung him back, but Yang stopped that motion by pulling on the chain once more to bring him back for another strike. This time, however the man was able to duck under her blow and scrape her side with his claws.

Even though the cut wasn't deep Yang knew she was going to feel it later, but luckily the adrenaline coursing through her covered most of the pain. Before he could try another slash Yang's knee came up and struck him in the stomach pushing him back, except this time due to his attack Yang no longer had a hold on the chain.

Both were breathing heavily as the man snarled at the blonde cracking his whip threateningly. Yang prepared to intercept his next swing, but it was interrupted when Blake darted towards the man's side. The bandit quickly reacted and aimed his whip toward the onrushing newcomer. Blake rose her sword to block the chain, and with her other hand moved in to stab the man. In return the man used the bracer on his wrist to block the blade and was able to thrust his claws into her side.

He looked down expecting to see blood only to find smoke. The clone he stabbed dispersed and another Blake appeared behind him to slice his lower leg with her katana. The bandit fell to one knee and screamed as the tendons were severed, however he was still able to counter by swinging his gloved hand back impaling the other clone. The man punched the ground then turned his head up to meet the incoming fist of an enraged blonde.

The other fight was currently in a stalemate. After their taunts Pyrrha and her foe had just been engaging in taijutsu. His claws weren't a threat when combated with her spear, but her short jabs didn't have enough force to breach his armor and stopping for a more powerful thrust left her open to a counterattack. Deciding to mix it up Pyrrha jumped backwards from the man and formed hand seals as he launched himself towards her. Just before she was in his reach, Pyrrha slammed her hands onto the forest floor causing a large earth wall to erupt from the ground.

The bandit growled and jumped to the top of the wall, planning to throw a volley of shuriken. His plan failed when he was met with a cloud of flame singing the man before he was able to throw himself back. Landing hard on his back the missing nin jumped to his feet and more cautiously ran around the wall to find no one waiting for him. His eyes frantically searched his surroundings and they found the black haired girl.

"I thought you made a break for it." The bandit taunted as he moved into his stance while the girl prepared several shuriken.

Blake ignored his remark and instead replied "Pyrrha now!"

The man stared confused, but tensed when he felt the ground beneath his feet shaking slightly. Looking down he saw a pair of pale hands emerging from the ground and wrapped around his ankles. Before he could even think about moving, he felt himself be pulled waist deep into the ground. Panicking he tried to move, but felt the earth fill in around his lower half.

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!" Blake yelled, and he looked up just in time to see the wave of shuriken.

Pyrrha sighed in relief when she emerged from the ground and saw the upper half of the bandit's lifeless body riddled with metal. The redhead turned to the faunus asking "And the other one?"

Blake was about to answer, but Yang's voice interrupted her. "Taken care of." The pair turned to see the blonde dragging the other man's limp body by his neck.

"Is he dead?" Pyrrha asked, to which Yang responded with shaking her head. "Well either of you have any idea who these two are?"

"The Demon Brothers." Blake responded "Low chunin rank, but they've been known to be troublesome to even jounin when working together."

"Good thing we divided them, they must have underestimated us." Yang responded and saw the thoughtful look on Blake's face which prompted her to ask "Is there more?"

Blake looked up at the two and answered "They've been known to work with Zabuza Momochi."

The name caused Pyrrha to gasp and Yang mutter "Shit."

"One of the Seven Swordsman? Here?" A slightly scared Pyrrha asked.

"Possibly, although it's also likely these two were just working on their own." Blake reasoned before adding "However, if they are working with Zabuza currently there is no way we can let him go."

Yang didn't need any more prompting and just crushed the man's neck with the tightening of her fist. She dropped the body, more than glad to be without it. The blonde loved a challenging fight, but there was no way in hell she would endanger herself and her teammates by encountering the legendary swordsman from Kiri.

"If he's operating in this area there is still a possibility we could run into him." Yang pointed out.

Pyrrha replied "He's known as a remorseless killer, but not as someone who goes out of their way to harm innocent travelers. That is unless he's been paid to."

Yang and Blake nodded at the redhead's reasoning, just as Blake was pulling two large scrolls out of her retrieved bag. "Well we should seal them in case he comes to look for them, if we're lucky he'll think they abandoned him. There also might be a reward for turning the two in."

The faunus wasted no time in sealing the one Yang had just dealt with in one of the specially marked red scrolls. She turned to the still half buried one and said "Now who gets to dig him up?"

"Not it!" Yang shouted almost immediately.

An unbelieving Blake turned to her and was about to chide the blonde when Pyrrha also yelled "Not it!"

Blake rubbed her forehead in exasperation at her teammate's childish antics and said "Fine" more to herself than her companions.

The other two giggled softly as they watched the faunus set about freeing the corpse from it's grave. "We're terrible people aren't we?" Pyrrha asked with a small grin.

"Eh" Yang brushed it off with a smirk of her own "We're ninja, we're allowed to be."

**(Five Hours Later)**

After several threats from a frustrated Blake, her teammates helped in excavating the corpse so it could be sealed. Noticing the day growing late, the Tensai decided to set up camp for the evening. They had walked a mile off the path into the woods than remembered the potential threat of Zabuza and walked another mile. It only took them a few moments to set up a basic camp, only consisting of their three tents and a fire pit long put out.

Blake had elected to have first watch when night fell, and now found herself sitting in the highest branch of a tree. From her perch she had a clear view of the area around her, but she wasn't paying much attention to it, that was what clones are for. The girl's attention was completely devoted to the star filled sky. Stars had always been something she admired, the faunus had spent hours gazing at the beautiful lights and connecting them to see what images appeared. This night in particular was a special one though, not only was a full moon occupying the majority of the sky perfectly complimented by the blinking lights around it, but the girl who burned as bright as the sun was sitting next to her.

The two had been sitting in silence for a good ten minutes now, just enjoying each other's presence. Blake wasn't surprised when she heard the blonde carefully climb her way up the tree beside her, but she was surprised when the girl hadn't made any attempt to start a conversation. The faunus did adore stargazing with the blonde, however she felt that there was some other motivation Yang had to join her.

Blake was saved the trouble of asking her when Yang began "Hey Blake?"

Feeling a bit cheeky, Blake replied "Are you gonna ask why I think we're here?"

Turning to her side, Blake saw the small smile now plastered on the blonde's face, but something was still off. The faunus looked at those beautiful eyes, and couldn't find the usual merry that always occupied them.

"That was the first person you've killed, wasn't it?" Blake asked, to which Yang nodded solemnly in return. "Do you regret it?"

"No." Yang answered immediately "I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Really the fact that I killed him is only a small part of what's eating at me."

The faunus was a bit confused "What do you mean?"

Yang sighed and began "You always hear how people are devastated after taking a life. How they detest what they've done and wish it could have ended differently. A bit of what's worrying me is how I haven't had a single thought about it." At this the blonde turned to her teammate "I can't help but be concerned that I have no problem taking a life."

Blake wanted to give her friend a speech about how she had nothing to fear, but she couldn't. To be honest the faunus had considered the same exact thing, today she brutally ended a man's life and felt no remorse. The girl also had the feeling that Yang just wanted someone to listen right now, so she just grabbed her hand with her own and encouraged the girl to keep going. "What's the big thing bothering you?"

Yang's face fell slightly at this, adopting a feature of pain and anger. "I hate seeing you get hurt."

"But I wasn't injured today." Blake pointed out.

Yang shook her head "Not you yourself, but your clones. Seeing them attacked and just be wiped out of existence terrifies me. It starts to make me wonder what if something actually happened to the real you."

A moment of silence passed between the two. Blake was equal parts touched and concerned after Yang's confession. So touched that the girl she's come to admire so much cares for her enough to dread seeing a copy of her come into harm. Than concerned by how difficult Yang was taking it, and Blake knew the blonde wasn't going to stop seeing it as long as the two are on a team.

"I wish I could say that you'll never see me get hurt." Blake began "But I can't lie to you. We're ninja Yang, it's in our job description. We get hurt and the thought of you in pain saddens me more than anything I could think of." The blonde's eyes widened a bit as she faced the faunus again "I can't promise to never be injured, but I can promise that with every part of my being will do it's best to get back up to you again."

The declaration and smile on Blake's face brought a few tears to Yang's eyes. "Thank you." Was all she could make out between rushed breaths.

Blake's smile never left her face as she scooted closer to Yang and rested her head on the girl's shoulder. The grief left Yang's face as she felt the embrace and a genuine smile took it's place. The blonde squeezed the hand she was holding and looked back up at the sky. The two remained in that comfortable embrace for the better part of an hour, both feeling completely at ease so close to the other.

Not wanting to break the interaction at all, but feeling a slight pain in her neck from the position, Blake tried to shift slightly. As the faunus moved she brushed against Yang's side, making the other girl yelp slightly in pain.

Blake immediately backed up and Yang couldn't help enjoying the concerned look the faunus was giving her. "Are you okay?"

Despite the sudden sharp pain, Yang nodded and tried to gently address the cut on her side. Blake watched as the blonde gently touched the wrapping on her right side, only to yelp again as soon as she made contact. The faunus' worry grew when she noticed the blood start to stain the tight white bandages.

"Shit," Yang cursed "I must have forgotten about it with the adrenaline hiding the pain."

"C'mere." Blake ordered as she gently took her companion's arm.

The blonde wasn't certain what Blake intended, but allowed her to take her arm. "Taking me somewhere?"

Blake didn't look at her as she began to descend the tree slowly, allowing the blonde to place some of her weight on her lithe frame. "I'd rather you not fall out of a tree while I clean your wound."

For once the blonde was the one blushing at her thoughts as they made their way to the ground. '_If Blake's going to check my cut, that means she's gonna make me take off my shirt. Or maybe she'll take it off...' _Seeing the intense scarlet covering Yang's face, Blake mistook it as a side effect of the cut and increased her pace.

A moment later Yang was seated on a log in front of the newly lit fire. Blake had retrieved a scroll and upon unsealing it retrieved a medical kit. As she sat down next to the blonde, the faunus had to ask "Do you need help taking your shirt off?" The faunus did her best to remain professional, but a small part of her was hoping Yang would say yes. Okay maybe not so much a small part, and more like the vast majority.

A similar thought was taking residence in Yang's mind. '_Say yes!' _The blonde's mind screamed at her, but when she tried to make the words she found that her ability to speak had been lost. All it had taken was the small case of showing a bit of skin to one of the dearest people in her life to completely rid the blonde of all confidence and replace it with a shy shell. '_For the love of Kami! Do something before you start bleeding out!' _

"I think I can manage." Yang croaked out as her mind screamed '_Coward!'_

The blonde had already removed her jacket before climbing the tree, so she just carefully grabbed the bottom of her shirt and began to slowly pull. Blake tired not to fixate on the beautiful skin slowly being revealed to her, but her trance was broken when Yang groaned in pain from flexing her side too much. To worried to ask for permission Blake took the hem of the shirt from Yang's grasp and continued where she left off.

To the faunus' credit she was able to control herself the entire process of removing the top, but when the fabric was discarded she was lured once more into a trance. Try as she might she couldn't take her eyes away from Yang's rather ample bust, which seemed even more impressive when held by the black bra containing them. '_Why did it have to be black?' _Blake internally asked herself.

Yang on the other hand was both blushing and smirking, although hiding it much better than her teammate '_Note to self, throw out any non black lingerie.'_

Blake resisted the urge to slap herself '_Alright stop staring at her chest, and focus on the potentially life threatening wound.' _Moving down to the wrapping Yang had hastily put on during her fight Blake prepared a clean towel as she slowly unwrapped it.

The blonde groaned slightly when the bandage was removed and the blood started to pour freely. Blake immediately covered the wound with the towel, forcing another groan out of Yang, to which Blake responded by handing the girl a few herbs. "They'll help numb the feeling."

Yang greedily began to chew on the herbs as Blake carefully wiped the blood away to get a better look at the cut. It wasn't deep or particularly long, but it had taken on a slight purple tint. Blake's eyes widened at the sight knowing what the color meant "Their blades were poisoned."

"That's reassuring." Yang mumbled, through clenched teeth.

Blake ignored the remark and pulled out another set of larger herbs from her bag. "Lucky for you, I only invest in the best medical supplies."

As she spoke the faunus applied the herbs to the now numb wound, and wrapped a new set of bandages over it. "The poison is probably why this bled so much. You should be fine by morning, maybe moving a bit slower than usual, but I doubt there would be anything more than that."

Yang let her thanks be known with a dazzling smile and grateful nod, that Blake couldn't help but return. As the faunus was returning her kit to the scroll, Yang pulled her shirt back on and couldn't help tease "So only the best supplies? You wouldn't happen to have a nurse uniform in there, would you?"

Blake felt the blush coming, but decided to roll with it this time. The girl turned towards Yang and smirked "It's nearly done, just need to find some stockings to complete the look."

The faunus giggled at the small stream of blood coming from Yang's nose and decided to leave the girl at that. "Enjoy your shift." Was all Blake offered as she retired to her tent.

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks again to everyone who has taken the time to read this, I hope you're enjoying it! Now I'd like to talk about the passing of a great man for a moment. Rooster Teeth is more than just a community, it's a family. Their videos, streams, journals all have such a personal feel it's impossible to not become attached. I have only met a few of the employees in person, however I consider all of them very dear to me. With the passing of Monty we have all lost a very loved relative, and the world has lost an incredible man.<strong>

**The shock of losing someone I've never met in person so suddenly and so young has been more painful than I could have ever imagined. Monty has inspired hundred of thousands if not millions of people with his work, this incredible community owes it's very existence to that wonderfully talented man. While I am still shocked and grieving over the loss, as I am sure many of you are, I know that I will never forget him and what he has given us all. We all love you and always will Monty.**

**Thank you all again for reading and for being the best damn family a person could ask for.**

**Until Next Time**


	6. Chapter 6

**Salutations! Before we get to the next chapter I would just like to let everyone know I will be reposting this on the RWBY and Naruto crossover area, I'll probably do it about a week after posting this chapter, so you'll all be properly informed. I'd also like to apologize that this one took a bit longer than normal to get out, hopefully the extra length makes up for that. Also on a quick side note, most of the Naruto stories I read spell elite ninja as jounin (Kakashi, Guy, ect.), but the official Naruto wiki spells them as jonin. So, I'm gonna go with that for now, but if I found out it's incorrect I'll be sure to fix it. Now to the story! Enjoy!**

The girls stood at the coast gazing at the nearly completed bridge before them. It really was a marvel, the bridge was at least three times the size of any similar structure they had seen in their time spent outside Vale. It seemed the construct only needed another fifty feet to finally connect the island to the mainland.

Each girl stopped to take in the surreal scenery in front of them. The view of the large bridge slightly hidden by a thin fog had a mysterious glow to it. Add the calm yet constant sound of the ocean's tide with the looming shadow of the island in the background, and you have the perfect inspiration for a landscape artist.

"Damn," Yang remarked at the view "makes me wish I could paint or draw."

"It would inspire a bit of a dreary mood." Pyrrha responded.

Yang smiled and looked at their other teammate "I've recently developed a thing for the dark and mysterious."

Blake certainly caught that, but just hid her blush with the recent practice she's had and led the trio down towards the water. Without having to discuss their next move, the kunoichi simply stepped onto the water, concentrating their chakra to the soles of their feet. It was a short walk to the nearest column of the concrete bridge and the girls had no problem using the same process to scale the structure.

As they began their walk on the bridge to the island, Pyrrha decided to ask "Blake you must practice calligraphy in order to use fuinjutsu, right?"

The faunus nodded in return "The more precise the writing the better result gained. I've also found it to be therapeutic in a way, almost like a more active form of meditation."

"Hmm," Yang wondered "Maybe I should try picking it up?"

Both Blake and Pyrrha laughed at that, causing the blonde to turn and go "What? I think it could help me unwind."

Still trying to stop her giggling Blake answered "Well calligraphy requires a lot of concentration, Yang."

"And by concentration she means being able to sit still for more than five minutes." Pyrrha teased.

"Oh piss off both of you!" Yang yelled back "When Yang Xiao Long sets her mind on something, nothing can stop her from-"

The blonde cut her rant short when she saw what laid in front of them. With careful observation and guards raised, the Tensai looked at the section of the bridge resembling a torn battlefield. While the bridge was nearly complete it almost looked like someone tried to destroy this section of it. Several lone senbon and shuriken were found littering the ground in erratic positions, along with burnt charred areas signifying heavy ninjutsu use. To accompany it all was the faint stains of blood seemingly sporadically placed, but one large spot in particular seemed to be covered in it.

"Damn are we too late?" Yang asked the group.

"There are clear signs of this being a shinobi battle." Blake stated.

Pyrrha nodded "Mere bandits or villagers wouldn't have been able to use chakra to this scale."

"Well that confirms Gato definitely has or rather had missing nin in his employ." Yang added.

"I think it's safe to say that's true." Blake agreed "Although that does bring up another question, what ninja were they fighting?"

The uttering of those words made the situation seem even more tense than it already was, prompting the Tensai to once more check their surroundings for some hidden enemy. They all shared the same feeling of dread creeping up their spines making them physically stop themselves from trembling.

There's a very distinct difference between terror and dread, a person doesn't come to understand the deviation until they experience both sensations. Terror is when your brain tells you that something is about to threaten your life and your senses confirm it. Dread, however is when your brain still tells you that something is out to harm you, yet your senses are unable to find the source.

For Team Tensai dread was easily the more daunting, and the misty setting obscuring their vision just added to the paranoia.

When she felt it was safe to speak again, Pyrrha asked "Is it wise to have our headbands on display?"

Blake absentmindedly felt her headband as she considered the question "Actually I think we're in the clear." The other girls both rose an eyebrow at that "Just consider the fight for a moment."

The blonde and redhead were a bit perplexed, but tried to make sense of what Blake was saying. They tried to more closely inspect the area, eyes looking for something they may have missed.

It was the blonde who first spoke "Yeah I've got nothing."

"Look we know this was a skirmish between shinobi right?" Blake asked and continued at her teammate's nods "Judging from how the bridge is nearly complete and this is the only damaged area we've come across, it's safe to say that Gato's men lost."

"Which just leads me to worry about who beat them." Yang countered.

Pyrrha responded beginning to piece things together "Well if shinobi from another village were the victors, they wouldn't attack us for just being here."

Blake nodded "Right, we're not trespassing on anyone's territory, attacking us could be seen as a serious offence to Vale."

"True," Yang considered "but if another group already liberated this area, it won't be easy to convince the residents of our plan."

The faunus just retrieved a specially marked scroll from her bag "We're gonna make them an offer they can't refuse."

A short walk later the girls had reached the other end of the bridge and just beyond it was the largest town in Waves. As they entered the village the girls had very mixed feelings about the place. Their first look at the weathered buildings and the rags people wore just screamed extreme poverty to them, but by looking at the people you wouldn't be able to tell. The look on the faces of the townspeople were more than content, they were blissful. The atmosphere and mood the people created was both welcoming and encouraging, the whole town seemed to be bustling as if it just found purpose once more.

While the girl's presence did attract some curious glances, even the random arrival of foreign shinobi didn't seem to shake the village's joy. However, they didn't waste any time, the three approached an elderly woman resting on the porch of her home.

She saw the three coming and greeted them with a smile "You shinobi certainly come in droves."

"I wasn't expecting that kind of welcome." Pyrrha remarked with a raised eyebrow. Foreign ninja were normally seen as dangerous fiends to civilians who had no ties to them.

"Were not the only ninja in the area?" Blake asked, getting directly to the point.

The woman happily nodded in return "Our saviors from the Leaf appeared when we needed them most. They rallied us together and we defeated Gato."

Yang's eyes widened slightly at the mention of Konoha "The tree huggers again?"

"It seems that way." Blake responded.

The blonde shrugged slightly "Well I suppose tree huggers are better than some freaky fish guys from Kiri." A man with a harpoon excused himself as he walked past the group.

The old woman seemed to find the group's blonde amusing as she laughed to herself, she focused on them again when Pyrrha asked "Could you direct us to your community's leader?"

The woman was confused a moment until realization hit "Ah, you must mean Tazuna. He'll deny he's our leader, but truthfully there's no one else who could take the role better than him." She seemed to be lost in her thoughts in a moment before shaking herself out of them and pointing to a house on the very outskirts of the village. "You'll find him with his family there, he also has the Leaf ninja residing with him."

Pyrrha thanked the woman for the information and began to lead the group to the home she pointed out. "Hopefully the Leaf nin don't make this a hostile situation."

Both of the other girls nodded at that, but the three had to pause when Yang gasped sharply and stopped moving. Before Blake or Pyrrha could ask what was wrong, the blonde had her hands pointed to the sky "Please Kami, don't let the boy in the jumpsuit be there."

Blake and Pyrrha immediately knew who she was referring to and while not as blatant prayed alongside her.

Tazuna's home was almost luxurious when compared to the other buildings in the area. It was a rather large two story home just at the edge of the woods allowing some privacy from the rest of the settlement. Unlike the other houses there was actually paint on the walls and no clearly noticeable damages to the property.

"I sense seven different chakra signatures in there." Yang told the group as they approached the front door.

Pyrrha looked to her teammates "Alright lets not insult anyone in there."

Blake nodded while Yang responded with "I only promise to try."

Feeling like that's the best she would get from the blonde, Pyrrha rose her hand to knock on the door. However, before her hand could meet the wood, the door opened and an obnoxiously loud voice announced "I'm gonna go for a walk!"

The glass shattering voice came from a spiky blonde haired blue eyed boy who appeared to be a few years younger than them. What's odd were the whisker like marks on his cheeks, add that to his deep gaze and one could describe him as a calculating person.

"Holy shit you have cat ears!" Which pretty much dissuaded the girls first opinion of him. The blonde boy had jumped upon seeing them and was now pointing wildly at Blake.

Blake just answered with "Very observant of you." She considered knocking the boy aside, but the Leaf headband displayed on his forehead had her pause.

A moment later another Leaf ninja appeared beside the blonde, this one being a young girl with surprisingly pink hair. It was hard not to laugh when the girl brought her fist down on the boy's head shouting "Naruto baka! She's a faunus!"

"Are you sure I'm not seeing things Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked as he held his head in pain. "Your punches tend to leave me a bit dazed."

"Yes, Naruto I'm sure-" Sakura stopped herself with a gasp, she had just noticed the headbands the Tensai had adorned on them.

"Vale ninja?" The younger girl asked uncertainly, with an easily identifiable hint of fear.

"Correct." Pyrrha answered coolly.

That seemed to set the blonde off as he jumped up at the answer and pushed Sakura behind him, shouting "You'll never get the old man!"

Yang snorted at the defiant nature and Blake just asked "You mean Tazuna-san?"

"Yeah!" Naruto confirmed "The drunk is under our protection! We kicked that eyebrowless freaks ass and we'll do the same to you!"

The Tensai looked at the blonde who was trying his best to be menacing, but sadly he didn't notice that his threats were having no effect. Yang was about to push past the two, but a new voice made itself known.

"And who are my cute little genin threatening now?" The curious voice came from a man who seemed to be just leaving his twenties, his long spiky gray hair seemed to group him along well with his genin, however most of his face was covered by a mask and his headband except for one eye. His tall stature allowed him to easily make himself known to the group.

"Ah, Vale nin." The man said surprised, yet his eye seemed to rise as if he was smiling. "It's been quite some time since I've encountered any shinobi from the Remnant Alliance. My name is Kakashi and the three of you are here for?"

Now to most people his seemingly friendly facade would be perceived very warm and welcoming, however to the Tensai his nature was more menacing than that blonde boy could ever hope to be.

They were about to answer the jonin, although apparently Naruto decided to do that for them. "They want the old man!"

Kakashi's eye smile wavered a moment, but he recovered instantly "Oh? And why would that be?"

"The Donkage and council of Vale have official business with the leader of this community." Pyrrha stated, while Blake held up the scroll to further extend the point.

The man looked to be weighing his options whether or not to let them in, but a rather blunt voice from further inside the house answered for him. "Ah hell, let em in! May as well hear what they have to say!"

Kakashi bowed his head at that, and much to the dismay of Naruto, moved out of the way for the girls to enter. The girls warily entered the home and followed where they believed the voice came from. The home was quite quaint, it was simple, but in a charming and familial way.

The voice led them to a kitchen and dining room area, sat at a large wooden table was a small family of three. There was an older man, who presumably the voice belonged to, sitting at the head of the table facing the girls with a lit cigarette and bottle of sake in front of him. Besides him was a young boy sending a rather pointed glare to the new arrivals with a young woman standing behind the duo just exiting the kitchen. The man had a tan complexion unlike the other two, but there were clear signs of resemblance between him and the young boy.

"Tazuna-san?" Pyrrha asked.

"That's right." Tazuna answered before he gestured towards the empty seats "If you're in my kitchen you may as well have a seat."

The girls nodded in return as they took the offered seats while the there Konoha shinobi entered the room and took up a position leaning against the walls. Tazuna than pointed to the boy saying "This is Inari," and then the woman behind him "and Tsunami."

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance." Blake offered in return.

"I'm sure it is." Was Tazuna's rude answer, which earned him a slap on the shoulder from Tsunami. The man brushed it off and continued "So you know me, but I don't know you."

"We're Team Tensai from Vale." Pyrrha began to introduce them "I am Pyrrha Nikos, this is Yang Xiao Long and Blake Belladonna." Each girl nodded as their names were spoken. "We've come with a proposition for you."

"I still say this a bad idea old man." Naruto announced his opinion, while Sakura had what looked like a very painful grip on his shoulder.

"I think the experienced jonin can handle a few teenage girls." Tazuna snorted, making Yang clench her fists below the table.

Kakashi seemed to ponder that while speaking out loud "Haku was a teenage girl, hate to imagine dealing with three of her." Tazuna's eyes widened a bit, and he seemed to lose a bit of his confidence, shrinking in his seat slightly.

Naruto decided to add "Tsunami maybe it's best if you took Inari upstairs."

Tsunami ignored the blonde's words and looked at the other blonde in the room. "I'm sorry, Yang was it? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Yang seemed to jump at her accusation "Oh, sorry! I didn't mean to offend."

"Is something wrong?" The woman asked in a gentle voice.

"Oh, no!" Yang quickly responded "I was just trying to figure out how big the age gap was between you and your husband."

The room was silent a moment then erupted in a few different ways. Naruto and Inari started to laugh hilariously, Tsunami and Sakura were giggling, Kakashi gave an amused eye smile, Blake and Pyrrha gave Yang a look that just said '_Seriously?'_, all while Tazuna just held his head in his hands and groaned.

"Why is that everyone's first assumption?" The elderly man shouted more to himself than the others.

"I'm his daughter." Tsunami quickly cleared up.

"Ah," Yang said as she rubbed her head with a bashful smile "that's way less creepy."

"Not to ruin the moment," Kakashi began "but you had something for Tazuna-san?"

A bit of tension returned to the room as Blake reached over the table to hand Tazuna the scroll in mention. As the man unravelled it and began reading, his face dropped slightly. Blake decided to explain the situation as he read "Vale has recently become aware of the dire situation the Land of Waves is in currently. The Donkage believes an arrangement can be made to help your country get back onto it's feet and become prosperous once more."

"And that arrangement is?" Kakashi asked the faunus.

Tazuna was the one to answer as he read from the scroll "In exchange for protection, Vale would like to establish a shinobi outpost here."

"What!" Naruto screamed into the room "We already saved these people!"

"Yeah!" Inari agreed, as he pointed at the Tensai vehemently "Gato's gone, we can fend for ourselves now!"

Blake was quick to refute "Do you really think Gato is the only ambitious criminal? Yes, your bridge will bring trade back, but how long will it take for your country to truly stabilize once more?"

"And that bridge will also bring bad things. Aside from more thugs who now have easier access to your land, there's also Grimm to consider. Do you have a lot on this island?" Yang asked to which Tazuna shook his head "So you've never had to defend yourself from them, that bridge will be a dinner bell to any Grimm passing by."

Pyrrha continued their sales speech "Vale also isn't looking to take over or rule this area. Really what we're gaining from this is new places for our ninja to train and gather experience. With the outpost you'll have a trained force protecting the area and ready to take on missions you offer."

"The Hidden Leaf Village could do that." Sakura decided, quickly gaining Naruto's support "Our village is closer and the people here already know us."

"True," Blake conceded, however followed it with a question "but how much did you have to pay for the Leaf to come here?"

"It was a C Rank mission cost." Tazuna answered.

Blake nodded and continued her inquiry "Was it difficult for you to pay?"

Tazuna looked ashamed, but he nodded his head, quietly admitting "The village had to pull together to pay for it."

"I think you'll find the fourth paragraph interesting." Pyrrha recommended.

Tazuna looked to where she pointed out and gasped "You can't be serious!"

"We are." Blake nodded, knowing what he's referring to "The Donkage decided that any mission under the rank of B, will have a 75% discount. Any mission higher than that will have to be approved by Vale before a price could be set."

Yang turned to the Leaf nin and asked very smugly "Can your village match that?"

Naruto wanted to answer the challenge with "Of course!", but Kakashi stopped him by saying "Don't bother Naruto, the Hokage and the council would never agree to it."

The cyclops didn't stop there though and continued "But I'm curious, what does Vale gain from this?"

Pyrrha answered "As I said earlier the chance to give experience to new shinobi, and when the ports begin shipping centers once more Vale would receive a reasonable discount in all trade involving the village."

Kakashi quickly countered "And the other ninja villages will receive a higher tariff?"

"Slightly higher." Pyrrha answered with a thin smile.

"This sounds to good to be true," Tazuna admitted "but how do I know Vale can effectively protect us. Before today I'd barely heard of you."

"I know!" Naruto quickly offered "We'll have a spar! Once we crush them you'll see why you should stick with Konoha!"

The Tensai were actually considering accepting this, not believing the younger genin to be much of a threat. However, thoughts of that were diminished when Kakashi said "No you won't." There was a certainly finality in his voice that even stopped Naruto from questioning him, but he still explained anyway. "Sasuke is still in no condition to fight, and even if he was I doubt you'd have much of a chance at winning."

"Why Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked, knowing her team was capable "They don't look much older than us, when did you become genin?"

"About a week ago." Yang answered truthfully.

That made Naruto determined once more "See Kakashi! We've been genin longer than that! We can take them!"

"Naruto Vale has a very different academy system." Kakashi informed the boy "Their expectations for genin are much higher than Konoha's. Their ninja spend a much longer time in the academy than we do graduating at sixteen, and Team Tensai is only awarded to the top three students of the year. They are deemed capable enough to go without a jonin instructor."

The girls were slightly uncomfortable by how much the jonin seemed to know of their village, yet that still didn't stop Yang from giving a small taunt "In other words, we're out of your league."

This seemed to not only irk Naruto, but Sakura as well, however neither dared move under Kakashi's eye.

Blake quickly defused the situation "I have another way you can be assured of our skills." She said this as she received the two large red sealing scrolls from her bag.

Kakashi immediately identified them and ordered "Tsunami, take Inari upstairs." Normally they would both protest at the command, but the tone in Kakashi's voice suggested otherwise.

The mother followed the jonin's instruction and brought her son upstairs, just as Blake was unravelling the two scrolls on the floor. The faunus crouched between the two as she laid her hands on the complex seals, a pulse of chakra later and a small cloud of smoke erupted.

Sakura screeched slightly and hid her face at the sight of the bodies, one of them still being punctured by several ninja weapons. Naruto was unnaturally quiet as he stared at the corpses with wide eyes. The scrolls had perfectly preserved the bodies, there was no smell as they hadn't been able to begin decomposing, if you tried touching them they'd still be warm.

Tazuna jumped in his seat "Wait, weren't those the ones who attacked us?"

Kakashi nodded "Yes, the Demon Brothers, I hadn't expected to see them again." He turned his gaze to the Tensai saying "We left them tied up to be arrested."

Pyrrha shrugged "They were either freed or somehow found a way to free themselves, they attacked us about fifteen miles from the coast."

"And you killed them!" Naruto shouted, finding it wrong.

The Tensai couldn't see why he was upset, although Yang tried to answer "Yes, that's usually our reaction when someone tries to stab us."

"I've seen enough." Tazuna waved at them as he turned away from the cadavers. Blake nodded and resealed the Demon Brothers.

"I believe there was a bounty for the two dead or alive." Kakashi informed the Tensai.

Yang gave a toothy grin at that "We'll that's a nice bonus."

"You could've taken them alive." Naruto pointed out, to which Sakura nodded in agreement.

The female blonde snorted "Taking prisoners who are a rank stronger than you normally doesn't end well."

Naruto bristled and was about to shout back, but Kakashi placing his hand on the boy's shoulder and shaking of his head, dissuaded the boy. With no further interruptions Pyrrha asked Tazuna "Well Tazuna-san, we need a response for our village, have you decided?"

The bridgebuilder sighed "You already know I can't refuse. It's just I know this decision will either lead to the rebirth of our nation or the permanent end to it."

"It's difficult to trust those you've just met with something on this grand of a scale," Blake agreed "but I guarantee you, Vale makes good on it's promises."

Tazuna nodded "Tell you're Kage we have a deal."

The girls bowed their heads lightly and smiled, before Pyrrha began "Another part of our mission was to assess the current threat the nation is in, and if it's within our capabilities deal with it ourselves. You said you already dealt with Gato and his men?"

Naruto seemed to jump out of his seat with pride "Hell yeah we did! We took out one of the Nine Soldiers of the West-"

"Seven Swordsman of the Mist." Kakashi corrected.

"Yeah that!" Naruto shouted "And some really feminine guy who could make icicles!"

Kakashi nodded "Yes it was quite a powerful kekkei genkai, a shame that it's now extinct."

"So they're dead?" Blake asked.

Kakashi made a so-so gesture with his hand "Haku, the boy with the ice release, sacrificed himself to save Zabuza from a death blow. The fight pretty much ended after that when Gato appeared with his army of thugs, Zabuza decided to deal with them himself, then seeing as he had no employer announced he would leave the country."

The thought of the swordsman being alive was very discomforting "Has he improved?" Pyrrha asked, wondering if the Bingo Book's information about the "Demon" was true.

"He's bordering on high A Rank, if he isn't stopped he may pass even that." Kakashi confirmed.

None of the group wanted to think about just how much of a danger Momochi could become, the group was thankful and only slightly annoyed when Naruto decided to begin taunting once more "Looks like we did your job for you, this island is Gato free!"

The boy's smile and thumbs up fell when Kakashi intervened "Well not entirely."

"What!" Was the collective response from the two conscious genin members of Team Seven.

"I had a clone scout the rest of the island and it seems Gato had a small group of reinforcements arriving further down the coast by ship." Kakashi informed the group.

"And you didn't tell us why?" Sakura demanded.

All the jonin did in return was shrug "I figured you three had seen enough fighting for one trip, I was planning on meeting the group myself when they arrive."

"Are we talking just hired thugs?" Pyrrha asked.

"Mainly," Kakashi answered "although a few might have some training with a sword. About half a dozen are waiting for another group of fourteen to meet them. They plan on raiding the countryside."

"That's brazen," Blake remarked "didn't the villagers make it clear they would retaliate from now on?"

Kakashi nodded "I thought the same, but my clone was able to overhear them talking about one of the reinforcements being a missing-nin. I didn't catch a name, although they did describe him as once being a chunin from Kusagakure."

"A grass chunin, huh?" Yang considered the threat before grinning wildly "Sounds like a good time."

The other two members of Team Tensai had been thinking the exact same thing, and upon nodding to each other, Pyrrha unfolded a map. "Would you mark their location?" She asked the Leaf jonin.

Kakashi responded by pointing out a small pier on the map, located several miles southeast of the village they were currently in. "Good luck." The jonin offered, as the Tensai rose from their seats.

"Thank you." Pyrrha responded "It was a pleasure to meet you all, this has certainly been _interesting_." The redhead turned to leave the home with Blake following her giving a respectful bow of the head as she left.

Yang was following them, but stopped and asked "That Haku person you were talking about, are you sure his clan is extinct."

"He said the Mizukage had them purged." Kakashi offered, seeing no reason to lie.

Yang nodded at the information, before offering a smile and a wave. Sakura yelled "Goodbye!" as the Tensai left the door, while Naruto stood with his arms crossed upset he's being left out of the fight.

Kakashi chuckled as he sat down across from Tazuna "Well this has been an interesting morning."

"The kind that makes you want to have a drink." Tazuna responded, as he poured himself a shot.

**(Outside the Home)**

The Tensai immediately set off for the woods, the map depicting that they could cut through them to reach the port. To be safe they refrained from speaking until they were among the trees, and certain the Leaf nin were not following.

"You okay Blakey, you seemed pretty tense in there? Not to say there's anything wrong about that, I mean it was pretty nerve wracking sitting across from foreign nin." Yang asked noticing how her faunus teammate relaxed drastically once they were out of the house's immediate vicinity.

Blake smiled at the blonde's concern "Yeah I'm alright, it was just pretty daunting playing nice with Kakashi."

"You've heard of that man before?" Pyrrha asked.

Blake rose an eyebrow at that "You haven't heard of Kakashi Hatake, son of the White Fa-"

The faunus was cut off when Yang screamed "Holy shit that was Kakashi of the Sharingan!"

Pyrrha moaned into her hands "First Byakugan and now Sharingan?"

Blake chuckled at their response, shaking her head marginally "At least this one wasn't trying to skewer us." They continued walking for a short while, still coming to terms with the fact they just met one of the strongest ninja in the Elemental Nations and lived.

"So what was that question about the ice kid about?" Blake asked, curious why her blonde teammate inquired about the ice user.

Yang sighed slightly and answered "I haven't told you about my cousin have I?" Both girls shook their heads as they walked and Yang corrected herself "Well technically he's not my cousin by blood, or really even my cousin yet. Although, my father has mentioned several times about adopting him into the family. You see Snow was an orphan who piqued my uncle's interest when he became a genin."

"How so?" Pyrrha asked.

"Well from what that creepy jonin guy said Snow must have been from the same clan as Haku." Yang informed the two, effectively shocking him.

"You mean?"

"Yep," Yang finished for Pyrrha "Snow controls ice and he's damn good at it. He was a Tensai like us when he graduated, and he's been an Anbu for a few years now. Damn, it's gonna suck telling him his family is officially gone."

Blake and Pyrrha both sympathized for the man neither had met, and the redhead tried to console the girl beside her "Well hopefully once the mess in Kiri has been taken care of we can negotiate from some of his clan's belongings to be sent to Vale."

"That would be cool." Yang admitted "Especially if their were some clan technique instructions, he's had to develop his own moves. Their powerful, but a bit blunt."

"Reminds me of a certain heiress." Blake teased, forcing a smile and blush from the blonde.

**(One Hour Later)**

The port was a small one, it only being a single wooden dock accompanied by two small cottages near it. Kakashi's info was correct so far, Yang could detect six signatures in the area. Two of them seemed to be sentries posted on guard, standing between the two cottages conversing. They each wore a sword on their belt, but didn't seem to skilled with the blades, although they had been reminded repeatedly in the academy that appearances in a shinobi's world were often deceiving.

On the end of the dock beyond them was a man sitting with a fishing rod in his hands, gazing at the water with a drowsy expression. Yang told the others that she felt the other three all residing in the same cottage, leaving the other empty at the moment.

It didn't take the girls long to come up with a plan, the surrounding shrubbery made for perfect cover from wandering eyes when used properly. Yang and Pyrrha used this to their advantage as they each stealthily creeped to the two cottages. Pyrrha slinked around the side the guards weren't next to and hugged herself to the wall. Carefully she moved to the window and opened it quietly, glad that it didn't decide to make a noise. A moment later she was inside the empty building and propping herself up against the door while discreetly peering out the window next to it, keeping check on the still unaware sentries.

Yang did the same as the redhead only to the other building, however when she looked through her window she noticed that her sensory skills were correct, she had chosen the house with the other three thugs. Lucky for her though they were all unconscious at a table, judging from the heavy snoring and empty bottles they were in a deep sleep. The blonde cursed slightly as the window squeaked, but the wind hid the noise from the sentries, and the trio in front of her probably would care less if they even did hear it. It only took the blonde a moment to permanently silence the bandit's with a quick slash to each of their throats.

Taking in the appearance of one of them, Yang made a successful henge and moved toward the door. Not being able to replicate the voice of the man she was impersonating, Yang made sure to open the door loudly and knocked on the wood several times.

The heavy dull impacts easily gained the attention of the men standing between the houses "You done sleeping it off?" One yelled to Yang, amusement clear in his voice.

However, they weren't the only ones attracted to the noise. The second they turned to face Yang, Pyrrha emerged from the door and quickly ran behind the two. With precision and two kunai in hand, the redhead crouched low and slashed one of the men behind the knee at the same time rising up to bring the other kunai into the second man's neck. The first man had fallen with a cry, but immediately after dispatching his comrade, Pyrrha wrapped one arm around his neck and stabbed him in the chest with her free hand.

The last remaining man was oblivious to all of this. His comrade's cry had gone unheard over the soft sound of the waves and his own tuneless humming. Staring absentmindedly at the ocean and the cork acting as his fishing rods bobber float. He was jerked from his thoughts when the cork disapeared into the water, feeling the tug the man strained to keep hold of his instrument. Finding himself in a fierce battle the bandit peered over the edge trying to rip his catch from the water. To his surprise a fish didn't come out of the water, but a rope of water, which wrapped itself around his neck. There wasn't even time for a gasp as the man disappeared into the depths.

A moment later Blake emerged from the water, a satisfied smirk on her lips. The faunus hauled herself onto the dock, and made her way down it to where Yang and Pyrrha stood with the two dead guards at her feet.

Blake approached the two, seeing Pyrrha use one of their sleeves to clean her bloody kunai, and Yang watching her with a grin.

"I thought cat's didn't like water." The blonde teased, sticking her tongue out for added measure.

"Not this one." Blake replied, before looking at the two corpses on the ground "You know in hindsight we probably should have interrogated one of them, see if Kakashi's info was true."

Yang shrugged and kicked the body next to her "He was right about how many were here, and he really didn't have a reason to lie."

Pyrrha stood back up with her weapons now clean "Well now we need to decide how to deal with the chunin and the other thugs."

"Well cyclops said he's from Kusa," Yang offered "odds are he's got some Earth jutsu."

"Than we shouldn't let him get off that boat." Pyrrha decided "Although I doubt the others will just stand by as we do that."

The faunus thought a moment before announcing "Than I'll get him on the water."

**(Two Hours Later)**

A small schooner steadily aligned itself with the dock, the crew throwing ropes to secure the ship against it. A few members jumped off to tie large knots as the rest lowered the ship's anchor. Above them all on the mast of the ship, stood a man. The way the others stepped lightly around him and constantly checked to see if he was looking at them, showed he was in command.

His attire was simple, black pants with a gray shirt covered by a green flak vest. The ex ninja seemed to enjoy wearing his scratched Kusa headband, his short brown hair doing nothing to cover it. The most discernible thing about his features is the thin scar trailing diagonally across his chin and lips.

The arrogant look on his face faded to one of annoyance when he saw no one coming to meet him from the cottages. With a wave of his hand, he beckoned a very nervous crew member over to him.

"Shouldn't there be a group waiting for us?" The crewman didn't need to see his face to know how displeased he was, that was evident enough in his voice.

"Ye- yes, sir." The thug squeaked out, not wanting to see the shinobi powers this man claimed to wield. He laughed nervously and tried to appease the missing nin with a jab at the others "I'm sure we'll find them passed out somewhere, drunk off their asses."

It didn't work "Daft idiots." The chunin's snarl was full of disgust, he shook his head as if he's trying to forget about the men and turned toward the shaking man beside him. The behavior made him raise an eyebrow. "The hell's gotten into you? You look ready to piss yourself."

The thug gulped and answered "I just fear what will happen if the Demon is nearby."

"Zabuza?" The chunin asked, saying the name as if it were a joke "That pathetic trash must have lost his edge to be chased off by some tree huggers." His snarl was soon replaced with a smile "Although, I suppose we do owe him a thank you for dealing with that shrimp Gato, even though I am jealous I wasn't the one to gut him."

The henchman opened his mouth to respond, but was unable to when he felt the strongest gust of wind he had ever experienced. Gusts of wind seemed to be directed right at the front of the ship, directly impacting the ex shinobi and his companion.. The one speaking to the chunin was immediately forced off his feet and carried backwards, he was sent with enough force and at an odd enough angle that when he slammed into the ship's mast his neck broke in several places. Another thug was picked up in the gust and cut severely by the sharp wind, before being sent over the railing of the ship into the water below.

Now the chunin was caught off guard, but reacted quickly and managed to keep himself on the ship's deck by molding his feet to the floor with chakra. However, his hold wasn't strong enough to keep him on the ship when a concentrated blast of air followed up the first attack. Being hit directly in the chest he followed his henchmen over the railing, but he was actually sent much further onto the open water.

While feeling a decent bruise forming on his battered chest, his vest was able to absorb most of the blow, allowing him to still be able to land on top of the water. Utilizing the water walk ability he looked to see a dark figure rush out onto the sea after him. Immediately raising two kunai, the chunin used them to deflect several incoming shuriken. Unfortunately for him he had to twist his body to dodge one, leaving his back open to the rushing form of Blake.

Just before her target could turn back Blake kicked him square in the back and slashed at his shoulder as he was sent forward. Growling under his breath, the man turned around in motion and rose his kunai to block another attempt from the faunus. Their blades met and locked in place, normally the chunin would have been able to overpower her, but the blow to his shoulder weakened his dominant hand.

With the two locked in a struggle, the man took this time to analyze his new opponent. "A faunus, huh? Killing your kind is always a treat."

Amber eyes narrowed in return, but Blake made no sound in return. Unable to push her back, the man gave her a fresh scowl and used a startling tactic. Blake didn't expect him to give up his control suddenly and allow himself to drop into the water, with his kunai still in a fashion stopping her from decapitating him during his descent. As soon as he disappeared from the water, Blake was made to jump back when his knife wielding hands broke the surface and aimed for her legs.

Once he decided she was a comfortable distance away from him, the chunin rose once more from the water and regained his control on top of the liquid.

Feeling the blood still flowing from his shoulder, the man informed her "You know I'm gonna have to make your death slow for this."

"Sorry about that," Blake apologized with a hint of sarcasm "I was aiming for your neck, but you needn't worry, I'll be quick to fix that mistake."

**(Back at the Dock)**

Just as Blake and the chunin left the ship for the water, the other two Tensai began to make themselves known. First Pyrrha popped from the ground at the beginning of the dock with her spear in hand. The five men who had left the ship to secure the boat noticed the redhead and began to charge toward their unknown enemy.

As they ran toward Pyrrha, she readied five shuriken in one hand and sent them at her closest assailants. Each weapon hit their mark causing one man to fall into the ocean with three stars in his chest and one in his neck, another was temporarily fallen when a shuriken dug into his collar bone.

Before she could send another volley, the first of the remaining three reached Pyrrha. The thugs all had retrieved blades from their belts, and her opponent made to slash at her with poor form. It wasn't difficult for the redhead to block the strike with her spear, his arms being spread wide gave her the perfect position for a counterattack, a thrust that went through his chest. Pulling her spear back out she watched as the man fell and the other two thugs approached her.

A larger thug rose his sword and tried to swing it down on top of the girl who in return rose her spear horizontally to stop the attack. Not giving the man time for another swing Pyrrha kicked him at the waist, pushing him back, and immediately followed up with a quick diagonal slash across his chest.

The only man left standing on the dock was a lot more hesitant to engage the girl after seeing what she did to his peers, but the adrenaline that encouraged all during battle was flowing through him and it eased his hesitance. With a renewing battle cry he began his charge again, only to be stopped immediately when Pyrrha swung her spear around, making the blunt end of it impact the temple of his head. Pyrrha was surprised to see the man still standing, although swaying heavily with his blade now on the ground, however she was glad of it when her senses alerted her to another danger. It appears the crew still on the ship had crossbows and two were aimed on the redhead. Hearing the quarrels be released, she reacted just in time by moving the man in front of her.

Feeling the man take the blows for her, Pyrrha made sure to keep a bit of distance between her and her new "shield", just in case the quarrels didn't go all the way through the thug and still hit her. Keeping the now dead man standing, Pyrrha waited for another wave of projectiles, but smiled when she heard the men still on the ship now scream. With a thud she dropped the man and took her time strolling down the dock. The redhead stopped above the man she had earlier incapacitated with a shuriken, he was lying on his stomach with a small pool of blood steadily forming around him. Hearing his groans and labored breathing, Pyrrha put a stop to that by quickly, and luckily for the man painlessly, separated his spine with her trusted Milo.

Back on the ship the screaming had begun just after Yang climbed over the side facing the sea. On the deck the drenched girl smiled when she noticed every thug's attention was focused on Pyrrha cutting apart their comrades. Seeing two men prepare crossbows Yang wasted no time in flinging a kunai at one of them. The archer never saw the blade coming as it went straight through his neck.

Raising one hand to try and desperately stop his neck's new fountain feature, the blood loss was already affecting the thug causing him to wobble unsteadily. In his stumbling the thug put too much pressure on his now loaded crossbow's trigger. The other archer had remained oblivious due to Yang's silent attack destroying his partner's vocal chords, however he became very much aware when the dying man accidentally shot a bolt into his thigh.

The first archer falling over the railing and the second one's screams alerted the rest of the crew on the ship to Yang's presence. The blonde quickly stopped the screams by rushing to the man and powerfully clocking him in the jaw. Feeling the bones break beneath her hand, Yang doubted he would be making any more noise. Turning around she noticed four men staring at her with open mouths.

Yang immediately rushed the one closest to her and as he fumbled for the dagger on his belt punched him heavily in the gut. With no air in his lungs and intenses abdominal pain, the man's head jutted forward giving Yang the perfect position for an uppercut to his chin. The blow actually lifted him off his feet and several more into the air. Seeing the others approaching between his airborne legs Yang grabbed the man's ankles, spun him around once for momentum, and flinged the man at his comrades.

Knocking down two of the thugs, Yang rushed to the one still standing and put all of her weight into a punch directed at his temple. The man fell with a crack and hollow groan leaving her with two thugs still stumbling to stand back up. As one tried to rise on his hands and knees. Yang stopped his progress by kicking him in the side, turning the man over onto his back. Several shuriken now in his chest stopped the man from counterattacking, and sent the last remaining thug cowering in fear. The blonde finished the lot with a swift kick to the final man's head.

With the immediate danger dealt with, Yang looked down to gaze at her hands. Feeling bones break beneath her punches was nothing new to the blonde, she had experienced that many times with Beowolves. However, this was the second time she had done something of this nature to a human. It was also the second time she didn't feel a thing from it.

**(Back to the Fight at Sea)**

The missing nin breathed heavily as he jumped back after barely escaping another of Blake's kenjutsu onslaughts. Seeing the smirk on her face just infuriated him more, and her cool tone of voice just fueled the fire when she asked "I don't believe I caught your name earlier?"

"I don't usually tell dead people my name." The man taunted back.

Blake scoffed and ignored the comment "It's curious, you see I credit myself as being quite knowledgeable in knowing foreign shinobi. You radiate an aura of being proud of your actions, yet I can't put a name to your face."

The brown haired man grinned wildly "You're correct there, in Kusa I've earned quite a reputation." Raising his kunai once more he continued "When you get to Hell, tell them Tanak Sugisata sent you."

"Perfect." Was Blake's reply as she sheathed her sword.

That brought a smile to Tanak's face and his cocky tone reappeared "So you have heard of me."

"No," Blake answered simply "you just made it a lot easier for me to retrieve the bounty when I turn in your head."

Tanak's eyes widened as he saw her flashing through hand seals, and he decided it would be best to move. Running at his top speed towards the coast, he heard her yell "Water Release: Gunshot!" Looking down at the water he saw the circular shadows approaching his own fast and narrowly dodged the first. The second however, clipped his side, although his stumbling actually helped him dodge the third.

With his left side feeling as if it was on fire, Tanak left the water and felt dry ground once more. Knowing the faunus couldn't be far behind he didn't slow his sprint, however he soon encountered an obstacle. Pyrrha stood some distance in front of him, blocking his path into the forest. Growling at the disturbance he sent several kunai at his new adversary. In return the redhead slammed her hands to the ground and an earth wall rose to block the projectiles.

Continuing his run, Tanak smiled as he was finally able to utilize his jutsu. Forming hand seals he yelled "Earth Release: Fist Rock Technique!" The earth from the ground rose and collected around his right arm, creating a larger one out of rock. With no hesitation he used his now reinforced arm to punch straight through the earth wall. Before he could check if the girl was hit, Yang appeared next to him and greeted Tanak with a kick to the face.

The force of the blow ripped him away from the wall and nearly onto his back. Feeling enraged as blood poured from his mouth he raised his modified arm to push off the girls next kick and used his other hand to deliver a counter blow. Being knocked back from the man, Yang huffed and punched her gloves together. Both wore deadly glares as they silently dared the other to make the next move.

After a moment they both decided to move in unison, charging one another with their arms raised. With a scream one of Yang's electric fists met Tanak's earth covered fist. For a second they seemed to counter each other and lock the two in place, but another second passed and it was clear who had the advantage. Earth having a natural weakness to lightning, caused Tanak's arm to literally explode as the stone was violently forced away from Yang's electrified hand.

Tanak was knocked to the ground far backwards from where he had been standing, his arm a bloody mess. Spitting blood out of his mouth, the man forced himself onto his knees to face his blonde adversary, who hadn't made an attempt to advance on him. All hopes of escaping left his mind when Pyrrha moved into his view next to Yang.

"Well? What are you bitches waiting for!" The man cursed vehemently.

All he was met with were two smirks, prompting him to open his mouth once more. He ran into a dilemma when he realized no words would come from his throat and oddly enough he felt very wet for some reason, curious he looked and discovered the cause of both. A black blade was sticking through his chest.


End file.
